Dhoni looked like he wanted to destroy whatever was in front of him and he did that: Michael Holding

Former West Indies fast bowler Michael Holding heaped praise on India’s recently retired legendary cricketer MS Dhoni by calling him a fantastic captain and wicket-keeper batsman.

Holding, who was a member of the famous fast bowling quartet of the West Indies in the 1970s, said Dhoni’s calm words would sometimes change the course of the match towards India.

“When he was captaining, you never saw him get excited. If things seemed to be slipping, he would call his players, have a chat calmly and then they would go back to wherever they were and things would automatically change, that was the kind of influence he had,” Holding said in his YouTube channel.

Holding lauded Dhoni’s efforts in Test cricket.

“What a career this man had, a fantastic one. He played 90 Tests, 350 ODIs and of course lots of T20s (98 for India and 190 in IPL). But let’s talk about Test and ODIs. This man made almost 5000 Test runs and remember, he’s not a pure batsman, he’s a wicket keeper. Over such a long career to be able keep wickets and do such a fantastic job is commendable,” he said.

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Holding hailed Dhoni’s fitness and said it is commendable that he has kept successfully for all these years and also scored runs consistently.

“Not just in Test, think about the ODIs. To be bending down for so many years, keeping himself fit through all these years... He has close to 11 thousand runs in ODIs and after facing just about 12 thousand balls that means he’s scoring almost at a run-a-ball throughout his career. Of course in some matches we know he has scored at a better rate than a run a ball because he’s such powerful striker,” said Holding.

The former West Indian quick then went on to talk about Dhoni’s six-hitting abilities.

“Throughout his career he hit 229 sixes (in ODIs). When you think of those numbers you must be thinking he must have played for 40 years to have hit so many sixes and fours. But that is the nature of the man.

“When Dhoni first started to play ODIs for India that long flowing locks that we call it in the Caribbean, he looked like a maverick. He looked like someone who came out there just to destroy whatever comes in front of him and he pretty much did that,” Holding added.

Holding also lauded Dhoni for being the only captain to have won all three ICC tournaments.

“What a captain he was, how successful he was. He won all the ICC trophies that are available.

When Dhoni first started, he was big-hitter, that’s why he hit so many fours and sixes. As he grew some grey around his temple area then he had to tone it down a bit and he was lot more controlled with his batting. Anyone watching MS Dhoni in the middle would know he was always in control, unflappable, never ever he looked out of control,” he added.