Having not kept the wickets across the two complete seasons of his Indian Premier League career so far, Chennai Super Kings opening batter Devon Conway has had the privilege to learn a skill or two with respect to this facet of his game from captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni. It was during the recently concluded 16th season of the coveted league, that Conway had managed to differentiate between his and Dhoni’s wicket-keeping skills after learning the nitty-gritty of the same from the man himself.
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Having kept wickets for the franchise since the inaugural edition of the IPL, the 41-year-old did not require Conway’s part-time wicket-keeping skill in any of the matches this season. This, despite the former having played all the 16 games with a knee injury.
The Kiwi southpaw, however, did admit having spent some fruitful and funny sessions with his skipper, akin a camera going for a point of view shot for intricate details of an art form.
Devon Conway Differentiates Between His And MS Dhoni’s Wicket-Keeping Skills
During a recent interaction with ESPNcricinfo, Conway spilled some beans on the amazing journey he had with the entire CSK family this season. Be it the never-ending title winning night with the squad members or his wicket-keeping sessions with Dhoni, the 31-year-old definitely had spent some memorable time which will always stay close to his heart.
Distinguishing his wicket-keeping skills with that of his captain, Conway remarked how it was always difficult for Dhoni to explain some of the aspects of the art simply because they were all natural and not something which could simply be emulated.
Going all in awe with the way he goes about his business, Conway further revealed that the things which seem quite simple to Dhoni turns out to be quite complicated for him as he is still not a regular wicket-keeper. His incredible display of skills even at this age further makes it jaw-dropping at times because one would never spot him training with his gloves on!
“He’s learnt his craft over so many years and I guess it’s hard for him to explain how he does things because it’s so natural. The sessions were funny. What was actually simple for him was so complicated for me since I’m still just part-time. He’s on a different wavelength to how I am when I work on my wicketkeeping. It was all the more incredible because he doesn’t keep at training.”
Conway Reveals His Personal Relationship With Dhoni
The Kiwi opener also remarked how “cool” his relationship is with the former Indian captain, where they would always talk about various facets of the game and life in general. Just like every cricketer would, he, too, admitted to have the urge to always talk to him on myriad topics simply because he always has this different aura around him.
He further admitted to have shared quite some funny moments with each other, and even enjoyed his company till late night over intense rounds of Snooker. The duo would, in fact, team up against Moeen Ali and his close friend till about 3 AM post IPL matches and discuss the different approaches and strategies around this cue sport matches as well.
