![MS Dhoni and Divya Deshmukh [Source: @mufaddal_vohra, @ImTanujSingh/x]](https://onecricketnews.akamaized.net/parth-editor/oc-dashboard/news-images-prod/1753709826281_ms_dhoni.jpg?type=mq)
MS Dhoni and Divya Deshmukh [Source: @mufaddal_vohra, @ImTanujSingh/x]
Indian chess Grandmaster Divya Deshmukh won the FIDE Women's Chess World Cup 2025 in Georgia by defeating fellow national Koneru Humpy in a rare all-India final. The win prompted her former coach Srinath Narayanan to laud her ability of thriving under pressure, saying she consistently delivered in high-stakes moments when everything was on the line.
Moreover, Narayanan even compared Divya Deshmukh with former Indian cricketer and 2011 World Cup winning captain MS Dhoni in a recent interview.
Dhoni And Divya Deshmukh, Both High-Pressure Aces: Says Coach
Following Divya Deshmukh’s FIDE Women's Chess World Cup 2025 win in Georgia, former coach Srinath Narayanan compared her with cricketing great MS Dhoni. While speaking with PTI over a phone from Chennai, he claimed that both Dhoni and Deshmukh hold a penchant of coming up clutch in big high-pressure moments in their respective fields.
He said:
“Her strength is, I think, turning up in those big moments, crunch situations. Like how Mahendra Singh Dhoni used to win the matches in the last over. I saw something similar in Divya in those last-round situations or situations where everything was hanging in the high-pressure moments.”
Divya Deshmukh became India’s 88th Grandmaster and the fourth woman from the country to bag the FIDE Women’s Chess World Cup title. She defeated Koneru Humpy, who helmed Indian women’s chess for over two decades by winning multiple championships and medals.
As her heroics drew comparisons with MS Dhoni, the legendary cricketer himself is currently spending time away from the field, with updates on his return continuing to draw attention. He recently represented the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) franchise in the IPL 2025 season.
