The cricket fraternity has always been a huge fan of the old stories of the former Indian captain and wicket-keeper batter, MS Dhoni, for his talent and how he led the national side to three ICC trophies.
His glorious days as the captain began during the 2007 T20 World Cup, after which he ended the 28-year drought by lifting the 2011 ODI World Cup and two years later, the 2012 Champions Trophy.
Besides all of these, MS Dhoni, playing for the Chennai Super Kings in the Indian Premier League, is also the joint most successful captain of the league with five trophies. Yet, there have been many unheard stories of the Indian captain.
Before taking his retirement in 2019, the Ranchi-born finished his national team’s career as the sixth-highest run-getter with 17092 runs in 523 innings at an average of 44.74 and a strike rate of nearly 80, thanks to his 108 half-centuries and 15 centuries.
“MS Dhoni used to bowl to Dinesh Karthik”- Aakash Chopra discloses an unknown story
By the time, the former Indian opening batter, Aakash Chopra, had already played for India, having made his international debut in 2003 at home against New Zealand. Before his A-tour to Kenya and Zimbabwe, the team assembled in Bengaluru for a month-long camp, where he first met MS Dhoni, who co-incidentally was his roommate.
The Agra-born had already seen the wicket-keeper batter once in a Deodhar Trophy game but never had a chance to meet him as a person until the camp in Bengaluru.
“MS and I go back in a very strange way. In 2004, there was an India A tour in Zimbabwe and Kenya. I had already played for India by then. There was a camp in Bangalore. When I reached the hotel, I was told that Mahendra Singh Dhoni was my roommate. I asked, ‘Where does he come from?‘”–The Delhi batter expressed this during an interaction with Raj Shamani on his YouTube show.
“I was told that he was from Ranchi. I only heard of him once. I saw him playing at some domestic game, in the Deodhar Trophy, where he scored lots of runs. But that was it. I never talked to him then. And then we were in Bengaluru, where we were roommates for a month, and that was a different MS Dhoni.” Akash Chopra remarked during the discussion.
The renowned commentator addressed the middle-order batter as a ‘very shy’ person, recalling the incident when the latter called for room service for that one month, and later accepted to eat vegetarian dishes.
“His phone used to ring a lot, but he never answered it. When I asked him what time he goes to sleep, because we had to figure the time, he said, ‘Whenever you are comfortable, you can switch off the lights.‘ Moreover, he was non-vegetarian and I was vegetarian, so it was not a great partnership.” The former Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR)-led player looked back.
“So, when I asked him (MS Dhoni) what he wanted to eat, he said, ‘Whatever you feel like eating.‘ He never used to call for room service. He was just too shy. For one whole month, he ate vegetarian food.” Aakash Chopra narrated.
He also shared the news when MS Dhoni smashed a Pakistan bowler, Iftikhar Anjum, who used to bowl 140-kmph and had already for the national side.
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“MS Dhoni hit him for a four at fine leg. The bowler changed his field, sent back the fine leg fielder, and called in the one at third man, but Dhoni smashed the next ball for a six over the third man region.” The 46-year-old elaborated. “I was like, ‘Who is this guy?‘ He never used to bat in the nets. He used to bowl to Dinesh Karthik, his competitor.”
It was later in the same year when MS Dhoni made his international debut against Bangladesh in Chattogram but failed to open his account.