Former Indian opener Robin Uthappa shared his memories of legendary Indian Skipper MS Dhoni with whom he shared the dressing room in the Indian team and Chennai Super Kings. The 37-year-old last played for Chennai Super Kings in IPL, before announcing his retirement in September 2022.
The prolific right-handed batter from Karnataka has played 59 international matches for India, mostly under the leadership of MS Dhoni, with whom he shares good rapport on and off the field. Uthappa, who is currently part of Jiocinema, spoke about the early days of MS Dhoni, and how Dhoni used to wow everyone around him.
“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,” Robin Uthappa said.
The 2014-orange cap winner Robin Uthappa revealed an interesting incident during a practice session where he injured Tamil Nadu spin bowling all-rounder Sridharan Sriram, with him trying to stop the ball hit by MS Dhoni, which eventually broke his two fingers as the former Indian skipper struck the ball so hard.
“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 toward 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,” Robin Uthappa said.
Robin Uthappa will be seen commentating for Jiocinema in IPL 2023, along with the legendary Anil Kumble, Suresh Raina, and Parthiv Patel for the cash-rich league.
We Became Very Good Friends There – Robin Uthappa
Robin Uthappa further continued that they were playing together from U19 days and they used to meet and have a conversation during the challenger series. Robin Uthappa was part of the India team in the inaugural edition of the ICC World T20 Championship under MS Dhoni.
“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,” Robin Uthappa added.
Chennai Super Kings let go of Robin Uthappa, Chris Jordan, and Dwayne Bravo ahead of IPL 2023 but went on to sign another veteran Ajinkya Rahane and England red-ball skipper Ben Stokes. Chennai Super Kings will be looking to bounce back in the upcoming season after their forgettable campaign in the last edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL)