Did Ishant Sharma actually say that MS Dhoni is not a calm personality and abuses a lot on the cricket field?

A video of senior Team India pacer Ishant Sharma is going viral on social media platforms in which he has claimed that former captain MS Dhoni is not ‘calm’ and ‘cool’ as widely perceived. He is heard saying that the Indian legend’s personality is quite in contrast to the popular image that he has built for himself over the years.

The clip in circulation is from Ishant’s appearance on Ranveer Allahbadia’s YouTube show, which was uploaded on June 24. While many news reports have quoted Ishant as saying that Dhoni abused teammates a lot on the field, the truth might not be as straightforward as is being portrayed.

From the clip (watch video from 57:30 minutes onwards), it is clear that Ishant had said:

“Mahi bhai ki strength ek nahi bahut hain. Calm, cool toh woh nahi hai, ground me bahut gaali bakte hain. Mere ko toh bahut padi hain. (Mahi bhai has many strengths; being calm and cool is definitely not one of them. He abuses a lot and I have also experienced the same.”

While this portion of the video has gone viral, Ishant immediately follows up by saying that he is just joking and that Dhoni used to speak to him as a small brother. This part of the video does not feature in the viral clip. So, it is very much possible that Ishant might have made the comments in a light-hearted tone.

In fact, in the same video, he is also heard saying that he has hardly seen Dhoni angry on the cricket field. Narrating a rare instance, the first bowler recalled an incident from a Test match when he did not collect some throws properly.

Ishant said in the video:

“I’ve never seen Mahi bhai angry, except when he threw the ball, and it went down. When he threw it the first time, I saw that look. The second throw was even stronger, and the ball went down. The third throw, he said, ‘Hit it in the hand.’ He said it with an expletive.”

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Ishant Sharma’s career stats

Ishant made his debut for India in 2007 and has represented the nation in 105 Tests, 80 ODIs, and 14 T20Is. While the tall pacer has claimed 311 wickets in Tests and 115 in ODIs, he has eight scalps to his name in T20Is.

The pacer last represented India during the Nagpur Test against New Zealand in November 2021.