MS Dhoni Told Me, ‘I Groom Players’: Deepak Chahar

Chennai Super Kings (CSK) pacer Deepak Chahar has revealed skipper MS Dhoni prefers players who can contribute in all departments, especially in the shortest format of the game.

India pacer Chahar was one of the top performers of CSK with 22 wickets in 17 matches at an economy rate of 7.63.

CSK won their IPL opener against Mumbai Indians by five wickets as Chahar bagged two wickets.

"I think Dhoni prefers those who are good in all departments. He likes those who can contribute in batting, bowling and fielding. A bowler can have a bad day but he can change a match by grabbing a good catch or can win the batch with a six or a four," Chahar told former India opener Aakash Chopra in his show 'Aakash Vaani'.

"If you look at our team, we have many players who are good in every department. T20 is a format that requires you to do everything. There are a lot of teams in the IPL which have a strong batting line-up or a strong bowling attack but they remain dependent on a few cricketers. If they do well, they end up winning you matches single-handedly but if they don't, the team struggles," Chahar said.

It was former India captain Dhoni who got Chahar into now defunct Rising Pune Supergiant in IPL 2016 before also drafting him in to three-time winners CSK.

"Generally you don't give the old ball to bowlers who have pace of 120-125 km/h but when I was playing for RPS and even for CSK I was bowling at around 140 but still he didn't give me the ball in the death," Chahar said, throwing light on his initial journey under Dhoni, regarded as one of the greatest white-ball captains of all time.

"I had asked Mahi bhai this. He gave me a two-word answer and then I couldn't say much. So I asked the bowling coach a couple of times, he also said I should be bowled in the death overs. Finally, I gathered some courage and asked Mahi bhai when he was sitting in a room. He said, 'I groom players' and that's it. He didn't say anything else," Chahar added.