MS Dhoni: Former Indian captain reveals the superstitious side of himself as a cricketer during a recent awards ceremony
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As much as blood, sweat, toil, and tears that a player goes through and puts in, there is also that element of fortune or luck that not only the fans, but the players themselves believe leads to their downfall or rise as players in any sport.
Cricket as a sport is no different too. We have seen and heard many cricketers who believe in myriad and at times absurd superstitious beliefs before or after stepping on to the field. From the legend Sachin Tendulkar wearing the left pad first to the ‘Nawab of Najafgarh’ donning his numberless shirt to impress the goddess of fortune, we’ve seen the greatest in the business enter the world of superstition.
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Even the Indian veteran wicket-keeper batsman MS Dhoni has spilled beans on the different kinds of superstitions he tends to follow, often unknowingly.
What did MS Dhoni say?
During an interview at the Indian Cricket Heroes awards ceremony, MS Dhoni was of the view that more than superstition, it is just a routine process that players adopt.
Mentioning a few related to himself, MS Dhoni said that at times he makes a decision as to which foot (left or right) should he first put forward ones he steps on to the field. “I think most of the cricketers are superstitious about a lot of things and we call it more routine, than anything else. We keep figuring out it was a left leg or right leg, I was also somebody like okay, when I go inside the field I would take left leg. Then after a while I got confused whether it was a left leg or right leg?”, exclaimed the 37-year-old.
Reminiscing the one related to his repeated failures while going out for a toss, Dhoni feels that at times it becomes difficult when there are more than two options, while going for a superstitious belief.
“I am better when I have more options, the moment I have two options I get confused. There was a time when I lost 29 out of 32 or 33 tosses, and most of the Test matches were in India. A lot of times I would go, and I will be like okay I want to change what I have called, and it was during IPL. I was like okay, I don’t remember what I called in the last game. Every time it was new to me,” he said.
“Not superstitions but routine”- Dhoni
The wicket-keeper batsman although emphasised that it is more of a routine process that a player follows, and shall not be called superstition. ““I kept changing a lot of things, routine because it is more controllable at last we can say okay that was something that was in my hand. Whether its a glove, whether it’s a pad. I think 100 percent cricketers they have this superstition or routine, you may call it whatever you want,” he said.
MS Dhoni is currently with the Indian Cricket Team at Southampton where India will square off against South Africa in their opening match of the 2019 World Cup. Dhoni displayed a scintillating display of strokeplay in India’s last Warm-up match against the Kiwis, where he scored 113 off 78. India will expect the legend to carry on with his recent good run of form, during the World Cup as well.
