New Delhi: Mahendra Singh Dhoni is a "magician" who can turn someone else's "trash into treasure" says the great Matthew Hayden, who also reckons that the former India captain's unmatched contribution to the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) success story makes his playing future with the franchise "almost irrelevant".
Dhoni's tactical genius has played a big part in CSK reaching their 10th IPL final. He did not have the best of bowling attacks at his disposal at the start of the tournament but he has been able to bring the best out of it.
How he has used Ajinkya Rahane and Shivam Dube in the batting department has also been praised widely.
Dhoni, who has played with a knee injury throughout the tournament, has given himself eight-nine months to decide on his playing future. Hayden, however, feels the World Cup-winning captain will not be around for the next IPL.
"MS is a magician. He takes someone else's trash and makes them treasure. He is a very skilful and positive captain. He said something really interesting which I thought summed up not only his humility and his truth around cricket where he is represented and that is in Tamil Nadu Cricket Association," Hayden told PTI.
"The alignment between that association and the franchise, how strong that is in terms of building that process. To me that is MS. There is a systematic way of going though things and working through them. He did that for India and he is doing it for Chennai Super kings.
"Whether he plays or not next year it is almost irrelevant. Personally I don't think he will but then he is M S Dhoni," he said.