IPL 2021: "We saw a change in MS Dhoni's captaincy from last year to this year" - Aakash Chopra

Aakash Chopra has said that there was a massive change in MS Dhoni's captaincy in IPL 2021 as compared to last year's edition of the league.

MS Dhoni seemed to be under pressure in IPL 2020, with the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) batsmen not firing and unable to post substantial scores. The talismanic skipper was back to his calm and collected self in IPL 2021, as his team delivered the goods.

While reviewing CSK's performance in a video shared on his YouTube channel, Aakash Chopra picked MS Dhoni's astute leadership as one of the reasons for the franchise's turnaround.

"One thing I liked a lot was MS Dhoni's captaincy. We could see a change in his captaincy from last year to this year. Last year we saw Dhoni, he had only five bowlers at the start and he made changes quickly," said Chopra.

The cricketer-turned-commentator pointed out that MS Dhoni has played the same seven Indian players in all encounters of IPL 2021 thus far.

"Ruturaj didn't score runs and he was dropped. Narayan Jagadeesan was dropped, players were getting dropped very quickly. But this time in seven encounters, seven Indians played continuously. He did not change a single Indian player," observed Chopra.

Aakash Chopra highlighted even the overseas changes were injury-forced and to maintain the balance of the line-up.

"The overseas changes were only injury related. Moeen Ali got injured, so he got Dwayne Bravo to get an all-rounder. He also thought of playing a spinner as Moeen Ali's spin will not be there," added Chopra.

CSK have used just 13 players in the seven matches they have played in IPL 2021 to date. Imran Tahir was brought into the playing XI when Moeen Ali had to miss an encounter due to injury, while Dwayne Bravo and Lungi Ngidi played four and three matches respectively.

"MS Dhoni played a big role in CSK team's turnaround this year IPL 2021" - Irfan Pathan@MSDhoni | #MSDhoni | #WhistlePodu pic.twitter.com/ubTjyHOXEz

— DHONI Era™ 🤩 (@TheDhoniEra) May 7, 2021

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"MS Dhoni not making changes shows the confidence he had" - Aakash Chopra

MS Dhoni is known for his ability to groom players [P/C: iplt20.com]

Aakash Chopra signed off by stating that consistency in selection showed MS Dhoni's belief in his players.

"The tactical changes were absolutely fine but MS Dhoni not making the changes shows the confidence he had. It is because of this CSK and MS Dhoni are special, they are not trigger-happy, they give time and keep faith in their selections. Because of this they don't find but make players," concluded Chopra.

Many players have credited MS Dhoni for bringing out the best in them. A case in point is Deepak Chahar, who has acknowledged the CSK skipper's role in his development as a death bowler.

Deepak Chahar is yet another Shinning Star mentored by MS Dhoni ♥️He has got a great talent and he has bowled really well in IPL.He was one of the most influential powerplay bowler in IPL.I can't forget his first Death Over 😅He improved himself a lot in death too.#INDvWI pic.twitter.com/rraDk6THtJ

— ʏυѵrαj ☆ (@Yuvraaaj_) August 3, 2019