Aakash Chopra On MS Dhoni: Mahendra Singh Dhoni is considered one of the most successful captains in cricket history. Under Mahi’s captaincy, Team India won the T20 World Cup, ODI World Cup and ICC Champions Trophy. Apart from this, the Indian team became number-1 in the Test format under Mahi’s captaincy. Also, Mahendra Singh Dhoni is considered one of the most successful captains in IPL history. Chennai Super Kings won the IPL title a record 5 times under Mahi’s captaincy. But how was Mahi in the early days of his career? A big revelation has been made on this by Akash Chopra, who was Mahi’s roommate about 20 years ago in 2004.
‘We were roommates in Bangalore for about a month, but…’
Aakash Chopra recalled his old times with Mahi, when both were roommates. Aakash Chopra says that in 2004, the Indian-A team toured Zimbabwe and Kenya. By that time I had played for India, there was a camp in Bangalore. When I reached the hotel, I was told that Mahendra Singh Dhoni is my roommate. I asked where he came from? In response to this, he said that he is from Ranchi… However, I had heard about him, I had actually seen him play some domestic matches in the Deodhar Trophy, but not more than that, I never got a chance to talk to him. We were roommates for about 1 month in Bangalore, but that Dhoni was completely different.
‘He never called for room service…’
Akash Chopra further says that his phone used to ring a lot, but he never answered. When I asked him what time he goes to sleep, because we wanted to know when he sleeps… in response to this he said that you can turn off the light whenever you are comfortable. Also Mahi used to eat non-veg, but I was a vegetarian, so our partnership was not good. So when I asked him what he wanted to eat, he said whatever you feel like eating. He never called for room service, he was very shy and he ate vegetarian food for a whole month.
‘Mahi’s passion for cricket was amazing…’
Former Indian cricketer Aakash Chopra told that Mahi’s passion for cricket was amazing. Mahi used to bowl to former wicketkeeper-batsman Dinesh Karthik during practice sessions, but when it came to batting in the match, he played shots that were never seen before. Aakash Chopra further says that he was a very different Mahi, careless but not careless. Careless because he was very confident and happy, and not careless because he scored easily when he got the chance. There was a Pakistani bowler named Iftikhar Anjum, who used to bowl at a speed of 140+ kmph and had played for Pakistan, but Dhoni scored easily against him.
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