George Bailey reveals how 'ice-cool' MS Dhoni used hookah to break barriers with youngsters

Mahendra Singh Dhoni reached 200 ODIs as India captain during the recently-concluded Asia Cup 2018. Dhoni, who quit the limited-overs captaincy in 2017, was handed over the reins for the dead-rubber against Afghanistan in the Super Four stage of the tournament after India’s stand-in captain Rohit Sharma decided to take a break. As Dhoni reached the landmark, tributes poured in from all corners including a video posted by Cricket Australia (CA) in which former Australia captain George Bailey spoke about Dhoni’s brand of leadership. [caption id=“attachment_3787751” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] File image of MS Dhoni. AP[/caption] Bailey played under Dhoni’s captaincy in the Indian Premier League (IPL) for Chennai Super Kings and Rising Pune Supergiant and also against him for Australia. In the video, Bailey revealed that Dhoni used to have hookah sessions with young cricketers to break the barriers during his time in IPL. “He likes smoking a bit of the sheesha or the hookah. So, he quite often would set that up in his room, and it was very much open door policy. You would go in and quite often find a lot of younger players there. For India or lot of other cricket teams, it can be hierarchical, but he certainly broke that down. You just find yourself in his room late at night chatting inevitably about the game or different facets of the game with different people. It’s a great way to break down barriers,” the former CSK player revealed. The match against Afghanistan ended in a thrilling tie before India went on to lift the Asia Cup title after beating Bangladesh by three wickets in the final. The 36-year-old Bailey also praised Dhoni for the manner in which he behaved under pressure. “He is just a picture of calmness and serenity. It’s pretty amazing. I am in awe of nearly all the Indian players, the pressure they play under in, the scrutiny they face. But MS, if he does feel pressure, I have never seen him. And I have seen him walk to the wicket with games all but impossible to win. But he never belies that and finds a way to get you home,” Bailey said. Bailey signed off by saying that Dhoni’s ability to remain ice-cool under tense situation was the greatest thing he had learnt from the former India skipper.