“I’ll bat my own fu**ing way, thanks” - Michael Hussey reveals shocking MS Dhoni incident from IPL 2018 Qualifier 1 [Watch]

Chennai Super Kings (CSK) batting coach Michael Hussey made a surprising revelation about former skipper MS Dhoni losing his cool in the 2018 IPL playoffs ahead of the 2025 season. Captaining CSK in their return to the IPL after a two-year absence, Dhoni led the side to a second-place finish in the league stage of the 2018 season.

However, with an opportunity to advance to the final in Qualifier 1 against the SunRisers Hyderabad (SRH), CSK were in early trouble during their run chase. After restricting SRH to 139/7 in 20 overs, CSK were reduced to 24/3 when Dhoni walked out to bat.

With much on the line, the wicketkeeper-batter was knocked over by a Rashid Khan wrong 'un for just nine, leaving CSK reeling at 39/4 in the eighth over.

Speaking on the Backchat podcast, Hussey recalled Dhoni fuming at him after the dismissal and an incident before the game concerning Rashid Khan's bowling.

Here is a video clipping of the same:

"The night before the big game, the analyst sends me through this split screen of Rashid Khan. And it’s basically when he bowls his wrong’uns, he runs in his fingers together and when he bowls his leggy, his fingers are apart. ‘Ooh this is good’. But this is the night before the game though, so I’m sitting on thinking do I send this out to the batters or do I not? I sat looking at it for an hour because you don’t want to put too much stuff guys’ head the night before the game," said Hussey.

He added:

"We were like four down for nothing the next day and Dhoni’s in with Faf at the other. Rashid Khan comes in first ball and bowls the wrong’un. Dhoni goes for the cover drive, hitting against the spin, bowled. You got to understand that this guy is a mega star, like bigger than god. He comes in and looks me straight in the eye and he goes, ‘I’ll bat my own f***ing way, thanks’ and sits down next to me. Oh, Coaching career, done!"

Despite MS Dhoni's early dismissal, CSK pulled off a thrilling win by two wickets in the final over to qualify for the summit clash. The Men in Yellow defeated the same opponent (SRH) in the final by eight wickets to clinch their then-third IPL title.

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"Dhoni’s a great guy" - Michael Hussey

Michael Hussey praised MS Dhoni's genuineness as a person by revealing how the former CSK captain spoke to him after the above-mentioned qualifier 1 against SRH. Hussey has been CSK's batting coach since 2018 and will continue performing the role in the upcoming 2025 season.

The former Australian batter also played for the franchise from 2008 to 2014 and then again in 2015, helping them to their back-to-back titles in 2010 and 2011.

“Dhoni’s a great guy, and he comes up after the game and said, ‘The information was great, but I needed more time and a couple of net sessions to process it," said Hussey on the same podcast [quoted by Hindustan Times].

MS Dhoni will be back playing for CSK in his 18th IPL season, having captained them to five titles during his stint until 2023. He handed over the leadership duties to Ruturaj Gaikwad before the 2024 campaign.