Harbhajan Singh had become a pivotal player for Team India when MS Dhoni made the debut. He was the senior player for the former Indian captain in terms of experience. The off-spinner has revealed that initially, Dhoni was a shy guy, but things changed after the infamous 2008 series in Australia as Dhoni started talking with the senior players.
Speaking to sports producer Rupha Ramani during an Instagram live session for Chennai Super Kings, Harbhajan said that he used to hang out with Sachin Tendulkar, Ashish Nehra, Zaheer Khan, Yuvraj Singh, but Dhoni never went along with them. He said that the controversial Test series brought the team together, including Dhoni.
“We have played a lot of cricket together, we have toured a lot of countries together West Indies, Sri Lanka, New Zealand, Australia. MS was a very shy guy. He never used to come to our rooms. He used to be on his own. We used to hang out with Sachin [Tendulkar], Zaheer [Khan], Ashish [Nehra] and Yuvi [Yuvraj Singh]. MS was a very quiet guy,” Harbhajan Singh said.
“And then the 2008 series happened. The Test match (Sydney) got everyone together in the Indian team. Those moments made us believe ‘we are all together in this’. From that time onwards, he started opening up a bit and started sitting with us. Of course, he was a young guy,” Harbhajan added.
However, Harbhajan said that Dhoni’s behaviour didn’t change after becoming the captain. According to him, the former Indian captain gave everyone space and respected the seniors.
Currently, the off-spinner plays under the captaincy of Dhoni for the CSK team in IPL. He has also won the title for the yellow army in 2018.