Playing under MS Dhoni to captaining him

Not too many cricketers have had the luxury to captain MS Dhoni in recent times. In his last 284 international games, Dhoni has not played under any other captain. With similar stints in the Indian Premier League as well, it is difficult to imagine a scenario of Dhoni playing under any of the players who have come after him. Varun Aaron, however, is a rare exception. Having already hung up his gloves in the longest format and played over a decade of international cricket, leading the side to three ICC trophies, Dhoni played under the pacer for Jharkhand in the 2015-16 edition of Vijay Hazare Trophy quarterfinals.

"It was weird because I have always played under him," Aaron told Cricbuzz about the experience. "I told him that it would be nice if he could captain. But, he was like, 'You know the side better, you have been captaining this side for a while.' I think, he had a point, he didn't know most of the guys."

Nonetheless, even without the responsibility on his shoulders, Dhoni shared his inputs, reveals Aaron. "There was exchange of ideas and I guess that happens when you have a senior player in the side, and it was great to have him around," the pacer recalled.

Having been slightly taken aback by Dhoni's decision of giving up the captaincy late on Wednesday (January 4) evening, the pacer couldn't quite recall his most memorable moment with the wicketkeeper-batsman, but added, "He was a great captain, backed all the youngsters. Not just the youngsters but backed everybody in the team. I never felt there was a moment when I didn't have the captain's confidence, no matter what it was. It was great playing under him, I was actually very lucky I would say."

Aaron wasn't the only one to be surprised by the timing of Dhoni's announcement. Left-arm spinner Pragyan Ojha, too was in shock "This (news) is something like, I don't know how to react, I am really numb to recollect anything immediately. Now that suddenly he has announced, I am sure he would have thought it out well, maybe to focus more on his own game.

"As far as stepping down is concerned, I think he is a very sensible man and he knows what's best for him, and what's best for the team. Whatever decision he has taken, he must have really thought."

Ojha, who made his Test, One-Day International and Twenty20 International debut under Dhoni, formed a key part of India's set-up for a brief period before Ravindra Jadeja's emergence in the longest format. In fact, as it turns out, Ojha hasn't played a Test under anyone else, apart from Dhoni. "As a young guy, everybody has a dream of making his debut for the country, that is special, and it's all the more special to have made it under him.

Ojha further went on to explain what made Dhoni stand out as far as being a bowler's captain is concerned. "The fact that he was a wicketkeeper and a captain at the same time, it worked very well for a bowler. He could think for a bowler, he used to watch the batsman so very closely and often had a proper view of the entire proceedings. That often helped me while bowling."

Of the recent exploits, one of the most popular sights was when he remained calm while talking to the young Hardik Pandya and plotting a turnaround. With India left to defend two runs off the last three balls against Bangladesh in the 2016 World T20, Pandya bagged two wickets off the next two balls, before Dhoni effected a stunning run-out to help India clinch the thriller.

The Baroda all-rounder was in sync with Aaron and Ojha and further praised the former captain. "He's been an amazing captain. The way he had led the team has been pretty amazing. He's improved me as a player, given me confidence."