"Then I knew he will play for India"- Uthappa shares an interesting story on MS Dhoni
All eyes will be on Mahendra Singh Dhoni (MSD) in the upcoming Indian Premier League (IPL) season. The 2023 edition of the tournament may be the last of the 41-year-old's incredible career. He will captain four-time champions Chennai Super Kings as they take on the defending champions Gujarat Titans in the season opener on March 31 (Friday).
While Dhoni's record as captain and player is extraordinary, the Super Kings endured a difficult season last year, finishing second from the bottom of the points table. Fans worldwide have been waiting eagerly for the upcoming IPL season as it could be the last opportunity to witness one of India's greatest cricketers of all time.
It will also be three years since the league returns to the home-away format, giving Chennai fans a chance to witness their captain extraordinaire at the Cheupak Stadium in Chennai.
The longevity of MS Dhoni.
The GOAT is still going strong. https://t.co/miVe0hCrht
Ahead of the start of the IPL, Dhoni's former India and Chennai teammate, Robin Uthappa, shared an interesting story from when they first met. Speaking to JioCinema, Robin said:
"The first time I saw MS Dhoni was during an India A camp in 2003 at the NCA in Bengaluru. MS was batting in the middle of the Chinnaswamy Stadium against Munaf Patel, who at that point in time was quick with a slingy action. There were other fast bowlers like Aavishkar Salvi. And MS was hitting huge sixes. He brought out the helicopter shot. Some of the balls even landed outside the stadium."
He continued:
"In fact, he actually injured Sridharan Sriram. He stepped out and smashed it straight to the bowler. Sriram stuck his hand out and it hit him. We thought he was running after the ball but he crossed the ball and kept running towards the dressing room. He immediately knew that he had broken his hand. I think he ended up with two broken fingers. We all got an idea of how hard MS hits the ball. Then I knew that he will play for India."
It is worth noting that Robin Uthappa played under MSD during India's T20 title run in 2007 and CSK's title run in IPL 2021. The wicketkeeper-batsman announced his retirement from all forms of the game last year.
"He is still the same as when I first met him" - Robin Uthappa on MS Dhoni.
Robin Uthappa is one of the few cricketers that has seen MS Dhoni since his early days in 2003-04 till now. He has also played under Dhoni at different times in his career, both at the start of 07-08 and recently at CSK during 2020-21.
Uthappa narrated how he and Dhoni became friends in the early stages of Dhoni's career. The Orange cap winner from IPL 2014 said:
"We became friends in 2004 but didn't play together that much. I was still a U19 cricketer and MS was playing India A. I used to meet him here and there like the Challenger Series. My first international tour was in Abu Dhabi. We became very good friends there. After that, we spent a lot of time together in the West Indies."
Uthappa continued to heap praise on MSD and iterated on how MS hasn't changed as a person until now.
"We both were fond of clothes. We used to go shopping a lot. We used to eat together. We had a group. Suresh Raina, Irfan Pathan, RP Singh, Piyush Chawla, Munaf Patel, MS and me. We used to order daal makhani, butter chicken, jeera aloo, and roti every day."
He added:
MS is very rigid in terms of food. He used to have butter chicken without chicken and was satisfied with only the gravy. If he had chicken then he used to skip roti. He hasn't changed one bit. He is still the same as when I met him for the first time. He's very uncomplicated and simple."
India's talismanic captain will hope to lead CSK to a record-equalling fifth IPL title in the upcoming season. They will begin their campaign against defending champions Gujarat Titans at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad on March 31.