Mukesh Choudhary Reveals MS Dhoni As His Cricket Career Inspiration

In an exclusive interview with Times of India, Chennai Super Kings pacer, Mukesh Choudhary, revealed how his team captain inspired his journey in cricket. MS Dhoni’s iconic winning six in the 2011 ODI World Cup left a deep impression on the young Choudhary.

Choudhary’s cricket journey

The 25-year-old has always been playing cricket since he was a kid but never thought of taking cricket seriously until he watched Dhoni’s iconic six. He was still 15 years old when he watched the 2011 ODI World Cup with his father.

"Whenever I see that winning six, I get goosebumps. The moment Dhoni Sir hit that winning six and hugged Yuvraj Singh, I decided I would also aim to play for India someday. I used to play cricket, but I began taking the game more seriously after that historic moment. The 2011 World Cup team inspired me a lot. I spoke about that triumph with Dhoni, sir. He has an abundance of knowledge," the pacer said.

Choudhary started his cricket journey by playing for his school, then college, and took it further to the Ranji level. At that time, his parents didn't even know that Choudhary had always played cricket regularly. It was only until his name started to appear in newspapers that his parents knew about his cricket career. Luckily, both of his parents were very happy about it because they saw how Choudhary had grown in cricket.

Choudhary made his IPL debut against the Lucknow Super Giants. He was not able to catch any wickets at first and conceded 39 runs, but he made it up by claiming four wickets in the next four matches.

MS Dhoni as role model

When Choudhary finally got the chance to be in the same team as his role model, he used the chance really well to help him improve. He shared that Dhoni was always willing to assist him by participating in an active discussion or providing feedback after each match.

Dhoni told Choudhary that he had been bowling in the powerplay and needed to prepare for the death overs now. Dhoni, who is known for his calmness on the field, also advised Choudhary to stay calm and focus on what he needs to do.

"Don’t think too much and don’t take pressure. The more you think and take pressure, the more you will make more mistakes," Dhoni said.

During his time with CSK, Choudhary opened the attack with the ball and showed his impressive play by removing Rohit Sharma off the second ball. Choudhary also got rid of Ishan Kishan and gave a flying start to his side.

He continued his attack by shortening Dewald Brevis’ length, which led the ball to land on Dhoni’s gloves. Choudhary recorded great figures of 4-0-46-4 while playing against the Sunrisers Hyderabad. He caught 11 wickets in eight matches that he played.

Deepak Char, who was unable to participate in the 2022 IPL, also played a role in Choudhary's development. Chahar gave some tips for Choudhary’s play when he was not playing well and told him what he could do to improve.