[In Pictures] MS Dhoni dresses up as Santa Claus to celebrate Christmas with family

Former Indian captain MS Dhoni celebrated Christmas with his family on Wednesday by dressing up like Santa Claus. The legendary cricketer announced his retirement from international cricket in 2020 but is still active in IPL.

He relinquished the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) captaincy just before the start of the season and passed on the baton to star opener Ruturaj Gaikwad. Dhoni has equaled Rohit Sharma's five IPL trophy victories after he led the CSK all the way to the title in 2023, which was his last as captain. He is all set to return to action in IPL 2025 as Chennai retained him for INR 4 Crore.

MS Dhoni's wife, Sakshi, and daughter, Ziva, took to their Instagram handles and shared a couple of pictures this afternoon to give fans a glimpse of their Christmas celebrations. In them, Dhoni could be seen in a Santa Claus avatar, posing with his family and friends.

You can view the pictures below:

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"He does most of the basic things right" - R Ashwin on MS Dhoni's captaincy style

R Ashwin recently opened up about MS Dhoni's captaincy style and opined that he does most basic things right, contrary to many other captains who miss simple things.

During a conversation with Michael Atherton and Nasser Hussain on Sky Sports, Ashwin said: (as quoted by ANI):

"In my head, I think he does most of the basic things right, and most of the other captains miss the basic elementary things, which makes the game look much more difficult for them. He would never, for example, give the bowler the ball. The first thing he would say is to take your field and bowl to the field. He hated the fact when a batter came to bat and you gave a loose delivery, he wouldn't take me off bowling."

He added:

"If I gave two three boundaries in an over, that is well earned. If I gave a new batter a ball to cut or drive, he would be livid. He would make me feel my place, and he would take me off bowling. That is a very basic essence of cricket. Over the years, I realized people have forgotten the basics."

R Ashwin will reunite with MS Dhoni in the IPL next season, as CSK picked him up at the mega auction last month.