Former Indian skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni is known for his cool and composed demeanour on and off the field. Dhoni is known for his unique style to handle any situation on the cricket ground.

India’s wicketkeeper-batsman’s ability to read the game and guide his players in the difficult situation is one of the highlights of his cricketing career.

In an article published by The Indian Express, which features the excerpts of Bharat Sundaresan’s book The Dhoni Touch, one gets to know why MS Dhoni does not allow his boys to give ‘maa-behen ki gaali’.

“The one-day leg of this tour came at the heels of a tumultuous Test series which, in addition to the Monkeygate fiasco, had seen the two teams at each other’s throats on and off the field. India felt robbed in Sydney when a few umpiring decisions, from Steve Bucknor in particular, went against them — this was six months before the birth of the decision review system (DRS),” the excerpt from the book says.

“Anil Kumble, the Test captain, had left for home at the end of the Test series but not before declaring: ‘Only one team is playing in the spirit of the game.’ India won the next Test in Perth but lost the series. Ponting and Co. were all set for an encore in the one-day series. Dhoni, still only into his fourth year of international cricket and on his first foreign assignment as captain in the ODIs, was left to face the heat. He did it his own way — he reduced the friction between the two sides by simply not reacting to any stimuli. The Aussies were flabbergasted,” it further adds.

In the book, The Dhoni Touch, the writer had also discussed why India’s one of the most successful skippers doesn’t believe in the over aggression and why he stopped his squad from using abusive language on the cricket ground.

“This was MS Dhoni’s style of war without bloodshed. It worked, and in the end he had a trophy to show for it. ‘Goli maarta hai apne style mein (He shoots in his own style.) He says the problem is if I allow my boys to give maa–behen ki gaali (swear words involving someone’s mother or sister); it’s they and not the one being subjected to it who’ll feel the pinch of what they’ve done for the rest of the day,” one of Dhoni’s close friends explains, adding, “He doesn’t believe in overt displays of aggression. He believes that if you want to hurt them, do it in your style, not in their way. If they believe in swearing, you don’t need to do it.”