'Did you see him stumping Prithvi Shaw? That is what comes with reflex. He has a reflex of .32 seconds which is top quality.'
Mahendra Singh Dhoni is drawing a lot of flak for his indifferent form with the bat in this year's IPL, but there is no one quicker than the Chennai Super Kings captain when it comes to reflexes, said former Indian team trainer Ramji Srinivasan.
Ramji, who is currently working with former F1 driver Narain Karthikeyan, believes that Dhoni can still compete with some of the top racing drivers when it comes to reflexes.
Ramji said that it is more a matter of warming up and getting in the groove for the CSK captain than reflexes. In fact, the former India trainer says that Dhoni has a reflex time of .32 seconds which is as good as it gets on the cricket pitch.
"Did you see him stumping Prithvi Shaw? That is what comes with reflex. He has a reflex of .32 seconds which is top quality. Some of the racing drivers around the world have the same timing if you calculate. The range for top athletes is .30 sec to .45 sec. The lesser the better. The elite racers will be below the .30 sec mark," he told ANI.
Asked if a player can work on his reflexes, Ramji said that is definitely an option.
"You have exercises which help you improve your reflexes. Just like you work on your fitness, you can also work on your reflexes. There are specific exercises that help you do that and knowing MS, he will do that the moment he sees the need to improve further.
"After all, cricket is more about reflex and hand-eye coordination than physicality. There are four modes -- proactive, reactive, reflex, and multi-tasking and peripheral awareness," he stated.
Dhoni, himself, has also pointed out how it is about warming up and getting into the groove after the coronavirus-induced break saw athletes spending close to six months indoors.
Speaking after the game against Rajasthan Royals, he said the 14-day quarantine in UAE also didn't help as there was less training time with CSK restricted to their hotel rooms for two weeks due to 13 positive tests in their squad, including two players and support staff.
"I haven't batted for a long time. 14-day quarantine doesn't help," he replied when asked why he batted lower down the order against RR.
