All eyes will be on the legendary Mahendra Singh Dhoni (MSD) as the Indian Premier League (IPL) season draws closer. This 2023 edition of the tournament is potentially the last of the fantastic career of the 41-year-old. He is leading four-time champion Chennai Super Kings into their season opener against defending champions Gujarat Titans on March 31 (Friday).
Last year was a challenging season for the Super Kings as they finished second from bottom on the points table, despite Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s remarkable record as player and captain. Fans worldwide have been anxiously looking forward to this IPL season, as it may be their last chance to witness the greatness of one of India’s most memorable cricketers. After three years, the league will also return to the home-away format, allowing Chennai supporters to observe their glorious captain at the Chepauk Stadium in Chennai.
Robin Uthappa, the former teammate of Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Chennai Super Kings, recently shared a unique story from their initial meeting. He 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, then, 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.”
Uthappa 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 noteworthy that Robin Uthappa represented MS Dhoni’s team during India’s victorious T20 campaign in 2007 and Chennai Super Kings’ championship season in IPL 2021.
“Dhoni is still the same as when I first met him”: Uthappa
Robin Uthappa and MS Dhoni have been close friends since the former’s emergence in 2003-04. Uthappa has played under Dhoni’s captaincy during significant periods of his career, including the start of the 07-08 season and the most recent 2020-21 campaign at CSK. Uthappa recalled how their bond strengthened over the years, starting from the earliest days of Dhoni’s cricketing journey. He 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.”
“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.”
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.” He further added.
CSK’s captain will look to equal the record of five IPL titles in the upcoming season.