MS Dhoni is famous for being an astute observer of the game. Dhoni has made several instinctive decisions on the field over the decade and those decisions have led to decisive victories for his teams. Be it for Team India or Chennai Super Kings, Dhoni has always led from the front either with his batting or with his wicketkeeping skills. It is for this reason that Dhoni is widely regarded as one of the greatest ever to play the game of cricket.

Indian bowlers have often been guided by Dhoni during matches. His analysis of the game has reaped rich rewards for the bowlers while winning matches for Team India. One of the beneficiaries of Dhoni's reading of the game is spinner Kuldeep Yadav.

The 25-year-old left-arm wrist spinner has often explained the importance of Dhoni behind the wickets. He has revealed several times that Dhoni often advises him on where to bowl and explains some tricks to outsmart the batsman. He also talked about how he never paid attention to field placement as the presence of Dhoni behind the stumps assured him of the right outcomes.

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"When I started my career, I wasn't good at reading the pitch. I learned about this aspect after I started playing with MS Dhoni. He would often tell me when I needed to spin the ball or where I needed to pitch it," Kuldeep told ESPNcricinfo in the 'Cricketbaazi' show.

"Dhoni was very good at setting the field as well. That's why I never paid attention to field placement when I bowled with Dhoni keeping the wicket. He would understand where the batsman could try to hit me and set the field accordingly." .

Kuldeep also rued not having Dhoni behind the stumps in the last few matches. The two-time World Cup-winning captain has not played competitive cricket since the 2019 ODI World Cup in England.

"It helped me bowl with more confidence...since the time he has not played ODI cricket, this has gone missing as well," Kuldeep added.

Kuldeep revealed during the same show that he finds bowling to Australia's Steve Smith and retired South African player AB de Villiers challenging.

"Smith plays me mostly off the back foot. He plays the ball very late as well, so it becomes challenging to bowl to him," Yadav said.

"In ODIs, AB de Villiers is a good player. He has a unique style. Now that he's retired, it's a good thing! But other than him, I haven't found any other batsman who I am sacred will hit me for a lot of runs," he said.

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