Winning three ICC titles and five IPL trophies is no joke, but MS Dhoni's achievements as a captain are so much more than just the tournaments he won. Most captains tend to panic when things are not going right, but Dhoni, he always had the plan, even for the most difficult situations. His strategic brilliance on the field tipped him as the smartest captain of the generation.

When India stalwart R Ashwin was asked how Dhoni was different from other captains, the off-spinner had a very simple answer. Ashwin believes Dhoni does the basics better than other leaders.

"It's a very simple question to answer in my head. He does most basic things right, and most other captains miss the basic elementary things. It makes the game look much more difficult for them," Ashwin said while speaking to Nasser Hussain and Michael Atherton on the Sky Sports Cricket Podcast.

"He would never, for example, if he gave the ball to the bowler, the first thing he would say, 'take your field and bowl to the field'. He hated that when a batter came to bat, and you would bowl a loose delivery," he added.

Dhoni unleashed Ashwin for Chennai Super Kings (CSK) in IPL 2024. It was Dhoni who normalised using spinners in the powerplay. Dhoni used Ashwin with the new ball and to good effect. Ashwin, who won the 2011 World Cup and ICC Champions Trophy with Dhoni, revealed what angered the Indian captain.

"He would never take me off the bowling if there were 2-3 boundaries if they were well earned. If I gave a batter a ball to cut or drive when he came out to bat, he would be livid. He would make me feel my place and take me off the bowling," said Ashwin.

"And that's a very basic essence of cricket, and over the years, I have realised that people have forgotten the basics. MS Dhoni keeps it very simple on those accounts," he added.

Citing the example of Tushar Deshpande, Ashwin revealed how Dhoni gets the best out of his players.

"In last year's IPL, he has got Tushar Deshpande, and he got the best out of him, and people spoke about it. I know what exactly MS Dhoni would have told him, he would have told him, 'get hit on the longer side of the boundary, give me two less runs than the last game'. That does two things to the bowler, releases the pressure and makes him think how better can I get on small set of goals. He does basic things very well day in and day out, compared to the others," said Ashwin.

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