World Cup 2019: MSD’s role different but very important, says elder brother

Narendra Singh Dhoni says placing a fielder at short fine-leg to take Pakistan’s last wicket in 2007 World T20 final and coming up the order in the 2011 World Cup final were his brother's biggest contributions.

Narendra Singh Dhoni is spot on in his analysis of the two world titles India won under his brother’s captaincy.

“Mahi is a footballer-turned-cricketer and I was a cricketer-turned-footballer,” says Narendra Singh Dhoni, around 10 years older than Mahendra Singh Dhoni (MSD), about his famous sibling.

“Perhaps Mahi, who was very young at that time, does not know about my cricket. Later, I played for the school team as a football goalkeeper in several national-level events but followed international cricket keenly.”

Narendra is spot on in his analysis of the two world titles India won under his brother’s captaincy. “For me, Mahi’s contribution in the two finals is the biggest — as a captain, in placing a fielder at short fine-leg to take Pakistan’s last wicket in the final, in 2007 (World T20) and as a batsman, coming up the order in the final, in 2011 (ICC World Cup).

“This time, his role is different but very important,” says Narendra, admitting his ‘generation gap’ with MSD and the lack of cricket talk with his brother.

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