'He broke bowler's finger': Robin Uthappa recalls first encounter with MS Dhoni
'He broke bowler's finger': Robin Uthappa recalls first encounter with MS Dhoni
Fans would be eagerly waiting for MS Dhoni to return as the Chennai Super Kings captain on Friday when they take on the defending champions Gujrat Titans in what might turn out to be his last IPL season.
IPL 2023: GT, CSK set for blockbuster opener as tournament returns to pre-COVID format
While speculations about the legendary former Indian captain’s retirement continue to do the rounds, his long-time teammate Robin Uthappa, both in the Indian team and CSK, has recalled his first striking encounter with the power hitter.
Uthappa narrated how Dhoni had once broken former India cricketer Sridharan Sriram’s fingers during a practice in Bangalore.
“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,” Uthappa said on JioCinema.
“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,”
IPL 2023 | Everything you need to know about Chennai Super Kings
Uthappa has played with and under Dhoni for a long time in both the Indian team and CSK. Before quitting cricket the right handed batter played two seasons for Chennai.
“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 added.
Click here to read Factboxes of all teams
Click here to follow comprehensive coverage of IPL 2023
Read all the Latest News, Trending News, Cricket News, Bollywood News,
India News and Entertainment News here. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
What's Your Reaction?
