"Give him more" - When MS Dhoni instructed Suresh Raina to sledge a Pakistan batter

Former India captain MS Dhoni is not known as someone who was keen on his players sledging the opposition. When in the field, his focus always seemed on trying to get the best of his players by giving them crucial advice from behind the stumps or in between overs. However, when it comes to India vs Pakistan matches, things rarely are the same.

During his appearance on the Breakfast With Champions chat show back in November 2017, former India cricketer Suresh Raina narrated an intriguing incident about Dhoni asking him to sledge a Pakistan batter. While Raina did not specify which match he was talking about, he revealed that the batter was Umar Akmal. Giving details of the incident, he recalled:

"Once we were playing Pakistan and Umar Akmal was batting. He complained to Dhoni that I was abusing him. I just said that I did not abuse him. He (Dhoni) asked me what happened - I told him that I was trying to throw at Umar and asked him to score some runs to try and chase down the target.

"Dhoni told me, ‘give him more’. This means break him and build some pressure on him," Raina added.

The former left-handed batter went on to praise Dhoni's legendary leadership skills and described him as a very good reader of the game. Speaking about his good friend in detail, Raina commented:

"He knows what is going to happen and he knows the next step. He always takes three plans to the ground whether he is batting, fielding, wicket-keeping or captaining the side. He plans in the night and then visualizes in the morning using his subconscious."

Under Dhoni, India won the 2007 T20 World Cup and the 2011 ODI World Cup. The veteran keeper-batter was also in charge of the Men in Blue squad that won the 2013 Champions Trophy in England.

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Dhoni-Raina formed a legendary pairing for India in ODIs

Apart from being good mates off the field, Dhoni and Raina also enjoyed batting with each other in one-dayers. The duo won many matches for India from tricky situations. As a batting pair, they scored 3,585 runs in 73 ODI innings at an average of 56.90 between 2005 and 2018. They were involved in nine century stands and 18 half-century partnerships.

Dhoni played 350 ODIs, scoring 10,773 runs at an average of 50.57, with 10 hundreds and 73 half-centuries. Raina featured in 226 one-dayers and notched up 5,615 runs at an average of 35.31, with five hundreds and 36 half-centuries.