Welcoming the appointment of MS Dhoni as the mentor of Virat Kohli-led Team India side, premier batsman KL Rahul has said that the entire squad is pleased to have the former captain on board for the ICC World T20. After guiding Chennai Super Kings (CSK) to their historic fourth title in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2021, legendary cricketer Dhoni has joined the Indian national camp as the team’s mentor in the lead-up to the ICC World T20.
A host of players and members of the management staff will remain busy in picking the brains of former skipper Dhoni throughout the T20 World Cup. While star player Hardik Pandya considers Dhoni as his life coach, his teammate and opener Rahul said that having the CSK icon inside the Indian dressing room gives the team a sense of calmness.
During a Clubhouse session organised by Red Bull on Tuesday, Rahul revealed that none of the Indian players expected that Dhoni will call time on his career after the IPL 2021. “None of us are sure that IPL 2021 final was his last game. I do not think, I would love to see MS Dhoni play for a lot more years if he could. Yeah, it was great to see how CSK played in the tournament and they were the most deserving to win it. Obviously, MS Dhoni back with the team feels amazing because we have played under him and we have looked towards him as a mentor even when he was our captain,” Rahul said.
Dhoni was earlier roped in as the mentor of the Kohli-led side when the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) announced the star-studded squad of Asian giants for the 2021 World Cup. India’s most successful captain in white-ball cricket, mentor Dhoni shares an extraordinary bond with the likes of skipper Kohli, vice-captain Rohit Sharma and head coach Ravi Shastri at the national camp.
“We loved having him in the dressing room when he was the captain, we loved the calmness. We have all looked up to him to help us out, to have him here is amazing. This gives us a sense of calmness, I have enjoyed spending time with him in the first two to three days and it has been a lot of fun. Looking forward to chewing his brain about cricket, captaincy and all things cricket,” he added. Rahul played a match-winning knock for Team India in the World Cup warm-up game against England on Monday.
