MS Dhoni is among the most successful captains in the history of the Indian Premier League (IPL), having led Chennai Super Kings to the playoffs and the finals more often than not. Under his captaincy, CSK have won the IPL title four times and finished runners up on five occasions. It means that CSK have reached the finals in nine out of the 15 seasons of the IPL thus far, all with Dhoni at the helm.
Apart from this though, Dhoni is also one of the most successful batters in the history of the tournament. Dhoni is one just seven batters to have scored over 5000 runs in the IPL, having got 5039 to his name in 214 matches at a strike rate of 135.71 with 24 half centuries. Dhoni's reputation as one of the greatest finishes in the history of the game was hardened as much through his IPL performances as with how he performed for India in ODIs and T20Is.
Rohit Sharma, who led Mumbai Indians to the title five times, is the only captain to have won the IPL more often than Dhoni and former India spinner Harbhajan Singh has played with both players. Harbhajan has said that while both were dangerous to bowl to, he always found it far more difficult to face Rohit Sharma.
“Rohit Sharma, any day, any time. Very difficult batsman to bowl to. I didn’t bowl a lot against Mahendra Singh Dhoni because by the time he came in to bat my spell was almost over. But no matter how little I’ve bowled, got him dismissed as well, in the last three overs of the game, he was a very dangerous player. But most of my overs were done by that time," said Harbhajan on Star Sports.
{{/usCountry}}“Rohit Sharma, any day, any time. Very difficult batsman to bowl to. I didn’t bowl a lot against Mahendra Singh Dhoni because by the time he came in to bat my spell was almost over. But no matter how little I’ve bowled, got him dismissed as well, in the last three overs of the game, he was a very dangerous player. But most of my overs were done by that time," said Harbhajan on Star Sports.
{{/usCountry}}“But Rohit Sharma, if we are talking overall, had a very big impact, a class player in terms of batting skill. Dhoni used to be a one of the most dangerous players in the game when he used to come in at the end as a finisher, but if Rohit bats from the beginning to the end, then there is no better player than him,” he said. While Dhoni is seventh on the list of highest run scorers in the IPL, Rohit is second with 6058 runs in 233 matches at a strike rate of 130.22 with one century and 41 half centuries.
Harbhajan played for MI between 2008 and 2017 and won the title with the side three times in 2013, 2015 and 2017. He then played for CSK from 2018 to 2020, winning the title in his first year with the side. Apart from this, Harbhajan was an integral part of the Indian teams that under Dhoni won the 2007 T20 World Cup and 2011 World Cup. Apart from this, Harbhajan was also instrumental to India's rise to World No.1 in the Test rankings for the first time in the team's history, which was also achieved with Dhoni as captain.