IPL 2025: Michael Clarke hails Dhoni as world's best wicket-keeper
What's the story
Former Australian captain Michael Clarke has hailed Chennai Super Kings (CSK) skipper MS Dhoni as the best wicketkeeper in the world.
The praise comes after Dhoni's brilliant show in a match against Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 in Lucknow.
The veteran cricketer achieved three dismissals by stumping Ayush Badoni, catching Rishabh Pant, and running out Abdul Samad.
Milestone
Dhoni's record-breaking achievement in IPL
Dhoni's brilliant work behind the stumps saw him become the first player in IPL history to take 200 dismissals.
Clarke was in awe of Dhoni's ability to deliver consistently over a long period of time. "It's phenomenal how consistent he's been over a long period of time," said Clarke on Star Sports.
He added Dhoni's captaincy was also brilliant in this match.
Leadership
Clarke praises Dhoni's captaincy skills
Clarke praised Dhoni's knack of reading the game and changing his plans according to the conditions.
He observed Dhoni used both spinners in the middle overs to good effect, a strategy he has used throughout his career.
Clarke added, "I just think his experience out there on the field was defining tonight as captain."
This only strengthened Clarke's opinion of Dhoni being a phenomenal leader in cricket.
Match-winning
Dhoni's all-round performance secures CSK victory
Apart from his wicketkeeping, Dhoni also contributed a lot with the bat.
He scored a quickfire 26 off just 11 balls and shared an unbeaten 57-run off 28 balls partnership with Shivam Dube.
This helped CSK chase the target of 167 runs in just under 20 overs, following which Dhoni was named Player of the Match.