"Bijli ki tarah haath hai" - Harbhajan Singh's huge praise for MS Dhoni ahead of IPL 2025

Former Indian spinner Harbhajan Singh hailed MS Dhoni's lightning-quick hands and his overall wicketkeeping skills even at the age of 43 ahead of the 2025 IPL season. Despite his advanced age and playing in a 17th IPL season, Dhoni showed no signs of slowing down last year.

Dhoni played all 14 games for the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) in IPL 2024, scoring 161 runs at a strike rate of over 220 and inflicting 10 dismissals behind the stumps. The former CSK captain is the all-time leader when it comes to wicketkeeping dismissals in the IPL with 190 - 148 catches and 42 stumpings.

Speaking about Dhoni's brilliance behind the wicket on ESPN Cricinfo, Harbhajan said (4:52):

"I have no idea how he does it. Captaincy and batting is a different matter. I have never seen anyone with quicker hands than Dhoni. Once the ball goes behind the wicket, 9.5 out of 10 times he'll get you out, don't know how he does that. I don't know what it is - Bijli ki tarah haath hai [he has lightning-quick hands]."

Dhoni underwent knee surgery before the 2024 IPL season after struggling with an injury throughout IPL 2023. Despite his rapid cameos and wicket-keeping presence, CSK just missed out on playoff qualification under new captain Ruturaj Gaikwad in 2024.

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"His style should come with an asterisk" - Aakash Chopra

MS Dhoni has pulled off several stunning stumpings in his illustrious career [Credit: Getty]

Former Indian opener Aakash Chopra echoed Harbhajan Singh's sentiments on MS Dhoni's wicketkeeping skills ahead of IPL 2025. However, Chopra believes that replicating his heroics in the 50-over format would be a herculean task even for Dhoni at his age.

"He redefined wicketkeeping and his style should come with an asterisk - " Don't try this at home." Aspiring keepers should not try to copy his technique. They should stick to a more conventional approach. Dhoni is an aberration and an outlier. I also feel in T20, very few balls go to the keeper. So it would be much harder for him if it was 50-over cricket at 43," said Chopra (5:29).

Dhoni retired from international cricket in 2020, with his last appearance for India coming in the 2019 ODI World Cup. He has played only the IPL since, leading CSK to titles in 2021 and 2023.

The legendary wicketkeeper-batter will be back in action when CSK open their IPL 2025 campaign against the Mumbai Indians (MI) on Sunday, March 23.