George Bailey on MS Dhoni: “He likes smoking a bit of hookah”

George Bailey on MS Dhoni: Dhoni’s former Chennai Super Kings-teammate spoke highly about him and his game.

Former India captain and current wicket-keeper batsman Mahendra Singh Dhoni has allured numerous public opinions about him in the recent times. From his critics questioning his place in the side because of his indifferent run to players like Virat Kohli, Kedar Jadhav, Rishabh Pant, Siddarth Kaul and others giving him credit to help them in respective phases of their careers, Dhoni has undoubtedly been among the news.

Former Australia captain George Bailey was seen going into raptures about Dhoni in a video uploaded on the official YouTube channel of cricket.com.au. Bailey was seen speaking about Dhoni’s game, to his temperament, to his off-field habits and more.

“I mean of all the Indian players, the pressure they play under and the scrutiny they face, but MS [Dhoni], I’m sure if he does feel pressure, I’ve never seen him [show it]. I’ve seen him walk to the wicket with games all but important to win and he never believes that and he finds a way to get you home. He has such confidence and such steely determination and belief”, Bailey was quoted.

In which came as an astounding facet of Dhoni’s involvement in the team meetings, Bailey let out the fact that Dhoni never attends any bowling meetings. “He can really panic some bowlers, he’s quite funny going into some bowling meetings.

“He would never come to the bowling meeting, the bowlers used to spend, umm, preparing and looking at wagon wheels and knowing where and how they are going to bowl to a certain batsman. HE would walk out on the field and point in completely different direction. You can see a few bowlers eyes start to spin”, said the 36-year old Australian cricketer.

Bailey was also vocal about Dhoni’s off-field habits, stating that his Chennai Super Kings captain is a fan of hookah and is always open for discussion, chiefly with the young players as it makes it easy for them to adjust to the team environment.“I think he may have incorporated this with the Indian team. He likes smoking a bit of sheesha or the hookah.

“So, he quite often would set that up in his room and it was very much open-door policy. You would often find a few of younger players over there. For India or lot of other cricket teams, it can be hierarchical, but he certainly broke that down. You just find yourself in his room late at night chatting inevitably about the game or about different facets of the game or about different people and with different people it’s a great way to break down barriers”, added Bailey, who is currently leading Tasmania in the JLT One-Day Cup, Australia’s premier One-Day competition.

On being asked about one major learning which Bailey learnt from the World Cup winning Indian captain, Bailey said, “The greatest thing that I took from him was his ability to remain calm to impact the calmness of the team.

“With the chaos and whatever might be happening on the game on numerous occasions, when you saw him being so calm behind the wickets or with the bat in hand, you firmly believe that he’s got a plan. He’s got something covered here, it’s gonna be ok.”

Watch the full video:

Below are some of the recent Twitter reactions on Dhoni: