Former Team India mental conditioning coach Paddy Upton recently shared a humorous incident involving skipper MS Dhoni and his unique approach towards preventing the late arrival of players for practice sessions and team meetings during a media interaction.
“Anil Kumble was the skipper of the Test team with Dhoni leading the ODI side when I joined the Indian team. The team had a very self-governing process. We asked the players over whether arriving on time for team meetings and for practice sessions was considered important enough by them,” said Upton during the interaction.
“They all agreed which was further followed with an enquiry over whether late arrival should be met with punishment or compensation by the individual. The players decided to leave the final decision to the skipper following an interaction amongst themselves,” he recalled.
Dhoni who is known for his unconventional decision making gave another example of his out of the box thinking at this stage.
“Kumble who was leading the Test side proposed a fine of Rs 10,000 for latecomers. However, Dhoni further added a unique twist to this decision during a discussion on the issue with the one-day team. Dhoni proposed a fine of Rs 10,000 for every single member of the side in case any of the players arrived late for practice. This resulted in not a single member from the one-day squad being late for practice or team meetings ever again,” he added.
