‘MS Dhoni used to hit far’: R Ashwin recounts when CSK captain whacked every single ball

One of the smartest cricketing brains in the world cricket at the moment is Ravi Ashwin. The wily off-spinner who has more than 350 wickets in his test career is a legend by himself. When Ashwin was expecting a break in his career, the cash rich league in IPL arrived at the right time which the finger spinner made perfect use of.

He played for CSK for about 7 seasons which molded him into a brilliant player during his initial stages of his career. The fact that he played under an encyclopedia in MS Dhoni itself is a massive learning for him. He shared an interesting story in his interaction with the ace broadcaster Harsha Bhogle for cricbuzz.

I would be waiting in the queue to bowl at MS- Ashwin

The world knows how destructive MS Dhoni was with the bat when he was new to the international cricket. As a matter of fact, the two times world cup winning captain was playing his natural game to attack from ball 1 till the end of last decade. It would be a greater learning experience for any bowler to have a go at MS Dhoni. The amount of exposure one gets when they face Dhoni is invaluable.

“I would be waiting in the queue at the MA Chidambaram stadium where there was a net behind the stadium and one where they practice right next to the match turf. So MS and Suresh always batted at the center. Queuing up to bowl to them at the center was some sort of a yardstick,” Ashwin said

When MS showed no mercy to Muralitharan!

The net sessions are the ones where MS will show no mercy neither hold back as he hits every bowler to all parts of the world. The situation was no different for the Sri Lankan legend in Muralitharan.
The leading off spinner in Ashwin revealed an incident when MS Dhoni took apart Muralitharan

Every time Murali bowled to MS, MS hit the ball long and every time Murali dragged the length back, MS hit it farther. There were at least 5-6 balls that scaled the roof of the MA Chidambaram stadium. I hadn’t seen anybody hit the ball that far and that was every very new in that era. To hit sixes was something we weren’t taught as youngsters