Former Aussie batter Michael Hussey has revealed how the legendary India skipper MS Dhoni was left fuming with him after getting out during an Indian Premier League match.
Hussey, who was coaching Indian side Chennai Super Kings (CSK) during the 2018 IPL Qualifier 1, has always been a massive fan of Dhoni – but thought he might lose his coaching gig after a run-in with the star.
Hussey revealed how the incident played out while appearing on the Backchat Podcast recently.
‘The night before the big game, the analyst sent me through this split screen of Rashid Khan,’ explained Hussey.
‘And it’s basically when he bowls his wrong’uns, he runs his fingers together and when he bowls his leggies, his fingers are apart. But this is the night before the game though, so I’m sitting thinking do I send this out to the batters or do I not?
‘I sat looking at it for an hour because you don’t want to put too much stuff on guys’ heads the night before the game.’
Michael Hussey has spoken about the time legendary India skipper MS Dhoni lost his temper
Ms Dhoni gave the Aussie coach an almighty spray after losing his wicket
‘But I’m sitting on this and thought I’d never forgive myself if I didn’t send this through and I sent it to the batting group. I said for what it’s worth, you might want to use it or just ignore it if you don’t.’
However, what happened next was unexpected and made Mr Cricket think his coaching career was toast.
‘We were like four down for nothing the next day and Dhoni was in with Faf at the other,’ said Hussey.
‘Rashid Khan comes in first ball and bowls the wrong’un. Dhoni goes for the cover drive, hitting against the spin, bowled.’
‘He comes in and looks me straight in the eye, and he goes, “I’ll bat my own f***ing way, thanks” and sits down next to me.
Oh, Coaching career, done! I sat for the rest of the game like a stunned mullet.’
Amazingly, CSK recovered and won the game by two wickets. The side then went on to win the entire tournament.
Dhoni and Hussey patched things up afterwards, too.
‘Dhoni’s a great guy and he came up after the game and said, “The information was great, but I needed more time and a couple of net sessions to process it”,’ said Hussey.
