Yograj Singh softens his stance on MS Dhoni, calls him ‘very motivated captain’: ‘He was a fearless man…’

Yuvraj Singh's father, Yograj Singh, a former cricketer, lavished praise on Mahendra Singh Dhoni for his captaincy and fearless attitude on the field. Yograj, who has spit venom on Dhoni on several occasions in the past, talked highly of him publicly in a rare incident. Yograj Singh heaped praise on MS Dhoni's captaincy.(X/Getty Images)

Dhoni, who led India to the 2007 T20 World Cup and 2011 ODI World Cup titles, faced criticism from Yuvraj's father in the past for destroying his son's career despite him being one of the main men behind those historic ICC trophy wins.

However, recently, Yograj called Dhoni a motivated captain and hailed his game awareness and ability to read the wicket well.

“I find Dhoni as a very motivated captain, who can tell people what to do,” Yograj said on “Unfiltered by Samdish.”

“The best thing about Dhoni was that he could read the wicket can tell bowlers where to bowl,” he added.

Dhoni led India in 60 Test matches, out of which they won 27 matches, lost 18 and drew 15. In the ODI format, which is considered to be Dhoni's forte, the explosive wicketkeeper batter led India in 200 matches. Under his captaincy, India stood victorious in 110 matches, lost 74 and drew five, forming a 55 per cent win percentage. In T20Is, he captained India in 74 matches and guided the Men in Blue to 41 victories with a win percentage of 58.33 per cent.

Yuvraj brought his best version in international cricket when Dhoni was in charge of the side, but Yograj often blamed the former wicketkeeper batter for his son's early retirement.

‘MS Dhoni was a fearless man’

It seems like Yograj has softened his stance on Dhoni. He also recalled a moment from the past that showed the legendary Indian captain's fearless attitude on the field.

“What I liked the most about him was that he was a fearless man. If you remember in Australia, he was hit on the grill by Mitchell Johnson and he didn’t moved a bit, he stood there and next ball he pulled him for a six. Aise log kaafi kam hote hai (There are very few people like him),” he said.

Meanwhile, Dhoni, who has retired from international cricket, will once again return to action in the next season of Indian Premier League. The legendary wicketkeeper batter was retained by Chennai Super Kings as an uncapped player after the BCCI introduced a new retention rule for the retired players.

Click here to read article