“He is an absolute craftsman” - Stephen Fleming hails MS Dhoni over his keeping skills

Chennai Super Kings (CSK) head coach Stephen Fleming has described MS Dhoni as an absolute craftsman with gloves in hand. Fleming opined that the CSK skipper doesn’t get enough credit for his wicketkeeping because of his multi-talented skills.

On Friday, April 21, Dhoni broke the record for the most catches taken by a keeper in T20 cricket after sending back Aiden Markram during the IPL 2023 match between CSK and Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH). The former India captain now has 208 catches in T20 cricket, going past Quinton de Kock.

In a post-match press conference, following CSK’s seven-wicket win over SRH at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai, Fleming was asked for his thoughts on Dhoni’s keeping. He frankly opined:

“It’s just natural talent. Had a session with [Devon] Conway the other day, who also does some keeping. Just listening to him talk about keeping in the sub-continent and watching Conway make some adjustments and then seeing a masterclass today…

“I don’t think he gets enough credit for his keeping. To be honest, he is an absolute craftsman, absolute master behind the stumps. It often goes unnoticed with the other things he does. Today [Friday] was a good example. I think it was highlighted on the TV.”

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Apart from taking a smart catch to dismiss Markram off Maheesh Theekshana’s bowling, Dhoni also effected the stumping of Mayank Agarwal off Ravindra Jadeja’s bowling.

“He always thinks that he is out of form” - Fleming on Conway

Bowling first after winning the toss, CSK did exceptionally well to restrict SRH to 134/7. Opener Conway (77* off 57) then struck his third consecutive half-century to guide his team to a comprehensive win.

Sharing his views on the left-handed batter’s incredible form, Fleming commented:

“Conway’s batting was what we expect. He always thinks that he is out of form but he keeps churning out runs. Today, his fifty was an absolute clinic to watch. That over against Marco Jansen was just great batting. He’s really skillful and the other thing is that he’s in the right spot and that’s a good combination with Ruturaj [Gaikwad].”

Conway took on Jansen in the last over of the powerplay and clobbered him for four fours and a six. Conway and Gaikwad (35 off 30) added 87 for the opening wicket in 11 overs to set the foundation for CSK’s thumping win over Hyderabad.