New Delhi, India

Tushar Deshpande is an integral part of the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) line-up. After joining the team in 2022, he didn't have the best of starts. Since 2023, he has been able to turn things around and become a regular in the playing XI. In 2023, he ended with 21 scalps as MS Dhoni & Co. won the title for the fifth time. In 2024, he returned with 17 wickets. Although Deshpande has been expensive occasionally, he has made a mark of taking wickets at crucial junctures. The 29-year-old, who recently made his international debut during the Zimbabwe tour, recalled how Dhoni groomed him when he joined CSK and the advice he received from the India legend.

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Talking to ESPNCricinfo, Deshpande said, "[Dhoni told me]: 'You have everything to succeed at international level. But you have to be calm during your run-up. Don't get distracted by the crowd. Just take a deep breath, stay calm and bowl.' If Mahi tells you that you have everything to be successful at the international level, boss, that itself is an achievement."

Deshpande recalled IPL 2023's opening game between then defending champions Gujarat Titans (GT) and CSK, in Ahmedabad. Back then, the Yellow Army failed to defend 178/7, with the Chennai pacer ending with figures of 3.2-0-51-1. Dhoni, however, backed Deshpande as the speedster remembered the former Indian captain saying, "Mahi came to me and said: 'You haven't made any mistakes. You bowled all good balls. It was not your day today. In the next match repeat the same."

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However, Deshpande's biggest learning from Dhoni came during a match simulation in the CSK nets. He revealed, "I was bowling good yorkers, but suddenly I bowled a bouncer and got hit for a 100-metre six. He asked me: 'Kyun daala bouncer?' [Why did you bowl the bouncer?] I told him I thought he was expecting the yorker. He told me: Don't play cricket in the mind. Yorker is a yorker and no one can hit you."

Deshpande added, "He was telling me we keep trying to play ahead of the game instead of staying in the present. The other thing he told me is to focus on my fitness, which is important for fast bowlers."

Under Dhoni, Deshpande has improved his bowling and made his international debut during India's five T20Is versus hosts Zimbabwe, following the 2024 T20 World Cup. Meanwhile, there remains no clarity regarding Dhoni's IPL future. He was succeeded by Ruturaj Gaikwad as the CSK captain ahead of IPL 2024.