"There Cannot Be A Bigger Cricketer...": Ex-India Star Sums Up MS Dhoni's Persona

Despite announcing his retirement from international cricket in August 2020, former India captain MS Dhoni enjoys a huge fan following. Dhoni, who continues to play for Chennai Super Kings in the Indian Premier League, is still one of the biggest crowd-pullers in the cash-rich league. Not just in Chennai but everywhere he goes, Dhoni's fandom cannot be denied. Speaking ahead of CSK's game against the SunRisers Hyderabad, former India spinner Harbhajan Singh suggested that no one has a bigger fanbase than Dhoni in the country.

"Mahendra Singh Dhoni is only one. There cannot be a bigger cricketer than him in India. Someone could have scored more runs than him and someone could have taken more wickets than him, but no one has a bigger fanbase than him," Harbhajan said on Star Sports.

Harbhajan, who played under Dhoni's captaincy in the Indian team and CSK, feels that the veteran wicketkeeper-batter has accepted the fandom with nothing but gratitude.

"Dhoni has accepted this fandom to heart and he respects his teammates as well. He walks with so much love and emotion that anyone else would go mad, but Dhoni has carried this love and emotion in his heart for 15 years and he still hasn't changed at all," he added.

The 41-year-old is one of the most successful captains in the history of the game, having won a lot of silverware in international, as well as franchise cricket.

Dhoni is the only Indian captain to have won all three ICC tournaments -- 2007 T20 World CUp, 2011 ODI World Cup and 2013 Champions Trophy.

He has also led CSK to four IPL titles (2010, 2011, 2018 and 2021).