‘MS Dhoni and Eoin Morgan are two of the best captains I have played under’ – Sam Billings [Exclusive]

During an exclusive interview with CricTracker, Sam Billings revealed the name of the toughest bowler he has faced so far in his career. The England wicketkeeper-batter also named MS Dhoni and Eoin Morgan as the best captains he has played under.

Apart from this, Billings spoke about his viral photo with MS Dhoni and Shahrukh Khan, two absolute legends of India, adored worldwide. Billings, also mentioned some of his most memorable moments in India, from winning the Indian Premier League (IPL) with Chennai Super Kings, to playing alongside Dhoni, and much more.

Excerpt from the interview

Who’s the toughest bowler you’ve faced in T20 cricket?

Yeah, I think, well, any format, certainly Josh Hazlewood, I think he kind of goes under the radar, the people, obviously you have Mitchell Starc, you have Pat Cummins in that attack, but Josh Hazlewood, I’ve always found very difficult.  He doesn’t miss his length and controls his length so well.  And I think, you know, I only faced him towards the back end of his career, but Lasith Malinga in 20-20 cricket, I just, I found impossible. I really found that angle very hard to adjust to. So, you know, two pretty good bowlers that I found tough.

Best captain you’ve played under and why?

Yeah, I think any captain or any leader that you play under, you can kind of learn from and they, obviously they, you can learn different things from them. There’s no one right way of captaining. I think there’s so many different ways you can be a successful captain, but I know it sounds obvious, but MS Dhoni, how calm he kept the game and how well he reads the game. I thought he was phenomenal to play under and gave you so much confidence as a player as well. So MS Dhoni for sure.  Eoin Morgan, very similar, very calm, very calculated and very, very smart as well. So they’re the two guys that I’ve always kind of looked up to.  Different personalities to myself, but certainly elements that I try to bring to my own captaincy.

Any special memories from playing in India?

I think winning the IPL. Yeah, number one. Another, yeah, I think opening the batting, actually, I think I still might have the record of most runs off a Jasprit Bumrah over opening the batting for England. So that was a pretty special memory as well.  Yeah, but winning the IPL, very, very hard to beat, very, very special. And being a part of that group was incredible. And yeah, that year getting 50 on debut against Kolkata for Chennai, debut for Chennai, that was a very special evening after so long of Chennai not playing at home.  Yeah, to go and perform like that, batting with Dhoni. Yeah, it was kind of pretty surreal.

You’ve pinned a post on Instagram with MS Dhoni and Shah Rukh Khan, can you tell us something about that picture?

Yeah, it was that night.  I got man of the match on my debut for Chennai, probably one of the best knocks I’ve ever played. And yeah, it was just a pretty cool photo. The three of us candidly kind of waiting for the awards to be given out. And two pretty cool guys are obviously played for Kolkata under Shah Rukh. So kind of, yeah, just spend time with those guys. They’re adored in India. They’re absolute superheroes. So two very, very cool guys. And I thought it was a pretty cool photo. And it got a lot of love on Instagram. So that’s why it’s pinned.

Billings, 34, has played three Test, 28 ODIs, and 37 T20Is for England. In the IPL, he has played 30 matches. His last international match as well as IPL appearance came in 2022.