Batting great Rahul Dravid has lauded Chennai Super Kings' consistent run in the Indian Premier League. He gave the credit to captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni's instincts, game-smarts, and the incredible amount of work that usually go behind the scenes as well.
On the other hand, N Srinivasan, the former BCCI president and head of India Cements, which owns the Chennai franchise, also agreed that Dhoni is a man of instinct who doesn't believe in attending team meetings or depends on data.
However, they both were speaking at a webinar recently organized by the Great Lakes Institute of Management where they shared their views.
"If you look at the success CSK has had, they've got really good access to data and they've got really good access to people behind the scenes and they've run cricket teams at the junior level," Rahul Dravid said at the webinar.
The former India captain further added, "They understand talent and they've obviously got a good scouting process in place. But, what they also have is a captain who really understands instincts. So, I mean, look, I know Dhoni quite well and I hope he hasn't changed, but I know Dhoni is probably not one to look at reams of data and statistics."
Notably, the Chennai Super Kings have won the cash-rich league thrice and reached the knockouts in each of the 10 seasons they have played. Srinivasan also said how MS Dhoni's instinct and judgment helped his team's success over the years.
"We're awash with data just now. To give you an example, there are bowling coaches and in a T20 game, they play videos of every batsman whom they're going to come against and they see how he got out, what's his strength, what's his weakness, etc. So, MS Dhoni doesn't attend this, he's a pure instinct man. The bowling coach, (head coach Stephen) Fleming will be there and everybody will be there, everyone is giving opinions, (but) he'll get up and go,” he recalled.
"In the context of instinct, he feels that okay he can assess a batsman or player on the field, that's his judgment. On the other hand, there is so much of data that is available to help a person also analyze. It's a very difficult line to draw (between data and instinct)," he further added.
Cover Credits: CricketCircle
