Asghar Afghan recalls MS Dhoni’s hilarious advice to Mohammad Shahzad to play in IPL
MS Dhoni (Source-Twitter(
Former Afghanistan skipper Asghar Afghan has revealed a hilarious chat with former India skipper MS Dhoni. The conversation was centered around Mohammad Shahzad the former Afghanistan wicket-keeper.
There is no hiding the fact that Mohammad Shahzad is a huge admirer of MS Dhoni. The 35-year-old also practiced and perfected the helicopter shot which was invented by the former India legend.
Asghar Afghan is currently in India to play in the Legends League Cricket 2023. MS Dhoni’s interaction with the former Afghan skipper became a topic of conversation. The 36-year-old former Afghanistan skipper recalled a funny chat with MS Dhoni.
MS Dhoni comes up with hilarious advice for Mohammad Shahzad
Speaking to the Times of India, Asghar Afghan recalled a conversation with MSD on the sidelines of Asia Cup 2018. “After the tied match, I had a long chat with MS Dhoni. He is a superb captain and a god’s gift to Indian cricket. He is a nice human being and spoke about Mohammad Shahzad a lot. I told Dhoni bhai Shahzad is your huge fan”
MS Dhoni’s reply to the comment left the fans in attendance in total splits. MSD replied, “Shahzad has a big tummy if he loses 20 kilos, I will pick him in the IPL”. Asghar Afghan also said “But when Shahzad returned to Afghanistan after the series he had gained five more kilos”
The former Afghanistan national skipper remembered the tied match against India with pride. “The tied match of the 2018 Asia Cup was the best moment for me. That was the best match. Both Afghanistan and Indian fans were in tension. India needed seven runs to win in the last over and Afghanistan needed one wicket to win the match. Rashid bowled the last over”
The 36-year-old recounted one tactical change that saw the game getting tied. When three deliveries were remaining, Jadeja was on strike. Nabi and Rashid came and said, ‘Captain. bring all the players inside the circle or close to Jadeja’. India needed 1 off two balls. I decided to place Najib (Najibullah Zadran) towards mid-on. I told Rashid to bowl a leg break and Jadeja was out-caught to Najib towards mid-wicket.
Mohammad Shahzad had scored a blistering ton in what was MS Dhoni’s 200th game as the ODI skipper. Afghan ended by saying “Rashid was so happy, he hugged me. I knew Jadeja would make some room and (try to) smash the ball and would end up giving the catch. And he did the same. I will give credit to Rashid who bowled well and as per the plan.”
