Former Coach reveals Divya Deshmukh’s similar quality like MS Dhoni: Monday (July 28) was a very special day for India, as 19-year-old Divya Deshmukh managed to win the FIDE Women’s World Cup 2025. Divya defeated Koneru Humpy in the final, who is considered one of the top female players in the world of chess.
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There was a fierce competition between Divya and Koneru in the final and both the classical games were drawn. After this, she won the rapid tie breaker and created history. Now Divya’s former coach has linked his disciple’s quality of flourishing under pressure to former Indian captain MS Dhoni.
The coach of Divya Deshmukh, who won Women's Chess World Cup said,
— ` (@WorshipDhoni) July 28, 2025
"Her strength is, I think, turning up in those big moments, crunch situations. Like how MS Dhoni used to win the matches in the last over. I saw something similar in Divya in those last-round situations" pic.twitter.com/nkfJXFuKJM
MS Dhoni is considered one of the most calm players in the cricket world and despite captaining for many years, his nature has not changed. Dhoni retired from international cricket in 2020 but is still seen playing in the IPL. As captain, he helped Team India win the 2007 T20 World Cup, 2011 ODI World Cup and Champions Trophy title in 2013.
Apart from this, Dhoni has also made Chennai champion five times in IPL. At the same time, in batting, Dhoni performed brilliantly under pressure on many occasions and made his team the winner. Dhoni used to stay calm under pressure and play well with the minds of bowlers or batsmen and now perhaps some similar quality has been mentioned by Deshmukh’s former coach Srinath Narayan. She Deshmukh has MS Dhoni-like qualities
After Divya Deshmukh became the champion, the former coach spoke to News18 and said,
“She is a very aggressive player. But over time, she has become even more all-round and versatile. I think she is equally good in all different formats… classical, rapid and blitz. And I think her strength is to perform well in those crucial moments and difficult situations. Like Mahendra Singh Dhoni used to win matches in the last over. Something similar was seen in Divya as well, in last-round situations or when everything is under pressure. She used to perform incredibly well under pressure in important matches.”
