MS Dhoni says IPL is responsible for taking away ugly sledging from cricket

MS Dhoni believes IPL helped a lot of players connect with each other

Indian limited-overs skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni has said that Indian Premier League (IPL) has helped players across the globe, including himself, to connect better with each other and has also taken away sledging from the game, reports The Hindu.

The 35-year old added that the lucrative league had also managed to push sledging away from the game. “IPL has helped us a lot to deal with it (sledging). IPL has helped different players from different cultures come together and share the same dressing room. IPL got me closer to many individuals, whom I might not have interacted with otherwise,” Dhoni said.

“We play a gentleman’s game. We want to win, but have to do it in the right way. IPL has taken the ugly sledging away from cricket. Friendly banter is good and that’s what these Twenty20 Leagues has done. Really helped the cricketers in streamlining in what was known as sledging,” he continued.

“I don’t even interact with Indian players in IPL fearing what their team’s policy might be, so I take care of all these things. But my equation with many players has improved just because of IPL,” he went on to say.

IPL has done wonders for cricket fraternity: Gayle

Dhoni spoke to the media at a promotional event organised in New Delhi and was accompanied by West Indies explosive batsman Chris Gayle. The RCB star echoed the words of the Indian captain and said that IPL had changed the chemistry scenario between players.

“I agree with MS about IPL. IPL has done wonders for the entire cricket fraternity. Yes, there is friendly sledging, like I enjoy with Pollard (MI all-rounder) but otherwise it’s cool. I got to know Starc, Australian pacer representing RCB, through IPL. He is a totally different player in the dressing room. He is very quiet and very reserved, but (it) was good to know him,” said Gayle.

The highest scorer in IPL went on to mimic MS Dhoni’s helicopter shot while Dhoni imitated Gayle's batting style. Gayle is not known for his running between the wickets to which he responded that he is the “quickest between the wickets. Dhoni responded to Gayle's claim with, “Yes, that is true. Chris is the quickest from the leg stump to the off stump.”

When Gayle joked about beating his compatriot and Olympic legend Usain Bolt in a 100-meter sprint, Dhoni entertained the crowd telling how Bolt became the fastest man on the planet.

“Actually Gayle used to hit those long sixes and Bolt would run and get them back. That is how he got his speed,” Dhoni quipped.