Sanjay Manjrekar Shares an 'Inside Story' of What MS Dhoni Told Him About His International Future

As IPL 2020 is all set to begin from next month, fans are excited to see their favourite star MS Dhoni once again leading Chennai Super Kings (CSK). The former cricketer-turned-expert Sanjay Manjrekar revealed an inside story of what the 39-year-old star told him regarding his international future. 

Manjrekar also revealed that he is confident about MS Dhoni having a wonderful IPL 2020 season for the Chennai Super Kings. During an interview with the Cricket Connected Show on Star Sports, Manjrekar shared a conversation that took place between him and Dhoni during the wedding reception of Virat Kohli.

“During Virat Kohli’s wedding, I had a little corner time with him (Dhoni) and he said that as long as I am beating the fastest sprinter in the team, I am going to consider myself fit enough to be playing international cricket or playing high-level cricket,” Manjrekar said.

“So, as a batter, with MS Dhoni in the IPL, I don’t see much difference. In fact, the conditions that we have, I keep saying, is just perfect for Dhoni, where it's going to be about the mind and not just power hitting," he added.

Despite not playing any form of cricket since the 2019 World Cup, Dhoni will be on the field for his fans for IPL 2020. Meanwhile, an official of the JSCA International Cricket Stadium recently stated that Dhoni was at the venue practicing batting in the indoors training facility. 

Till date, in the 190 matches that he played in the IPL for CSK, Dhoni has scored 4432 runs at an average of 42.20 with 23 half-centuries. “I think he is going to be very good and one of the reasons that he is so successful and so consistent in the IPL as a batsman as opposed to international is that he knows that there are about four to five bowlers to handle. And there are some good ones and there are some not so good ones in the IPL,” Manjrekar stated. 

“In international, you have got five quality bowlers, so he’s so good at picking out those guys and going after them. And people with Tendulkar, Dhoni, these are champion cricketers. Once they are on the public stage, you will never see Dhoni ever on a public stage, like a cricket field, looking slightly unfit or unable to sprint or run," finally expressed.