India and Chennai Super Kings batsman Robin Uthappa said that it was difficult for him to call his ‘good friend’ MS Dhoni ‘Mahi bhai’ when he signed up to play for Chennai Super Kings in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2020. done, he said that he went up to the former CSK captain and talked about his inhibitions.
Robin Uthappa while talking to R Ashwin shared memories of his early days with the senior national team and how he became good friends with MS Dhoni. Uthappa said Dhoni did not expect the Karnataka batsman to call him ‘Mahi bhai’, which is how the youth of the team addressed the former World Cup-winning captain.
IPL 2022 Full Coverage
Uthappa, who made his India debut in 2006, said that he first met Dhoni in a Challenger Trophy in 2004 and the two players knew each other well when Uthappa started traveling with the Indian team.
Uthappa and Dhoni played 47 matches together for India between 2006 and 2012 before coming back to CSK in 2020.
Mahi brother?
“Today, for me, it is very difficult to call him Mahi bhai. Because that’s when I came to know that he was Mahi, MS,” Uthappa said on Ashwin’s YouTube show.
“I played with him after 12 years. After 2008, when I was dropped from the team, I am playing with him in the same team after 12-13 years.
“I said ‘What shall I call you, man? I don’t know. Should I call you Mahi Bhai because everyone around me is calling you Mahi Bhai?’
“He was like ‘Hey, call me MS, or Mahi or however you want me’. How simple is that. It’s just an example of who he is as a human being.”
‘MS funny and funny’
Further, Uthappa said that he found MS Dhoni special and unique from the time when he was not even the captain of India. The Bengaluru cricketer said that Dhoni speaks very little but he was witty and witty.
“I first met MS Dhoni during his debut in the Challenger Series in 2004. I was very close to Sridharan Sriram. I really love him a lot as a person. Mr. Bhai was also in the Challenger Trophy, he Was also close to MS and that’s when I met MS through Mr.Bhai but that meeting was very brief.
“MS is an extremely funny man. Extremely funny fellow, and off the cuff. If he likes you, he will keep teasing you. And if you get angry with him, he will stop. Like he doesn’t like to hurt anyone. But this is how he shows affection.
“We connected on bikes. I was learning about bikes at the time. They were of common interest. Food was a common interest, and so were the cars.
“I was telling someone, there was something different about MS even before I became captain. He was very different in a positive light. These were all special in a little bit of a flashy way. But he was special in a very simple way. Always under the radar, and had a calm but great sense of humour. It will come out when it comes out.
“When he spoke, everyone listened. That was even before he became the captain. He would speak when his opinion was asked. He spoke only when he was spoken to and everyone listened when he spoke.
Notably, Uthappa was instrumental in India’s T20 World Cup campaign in 2007, which he won under the captaincy of MS Dhoni. Dhoni also relied on the batsman with the responsibility of bowling the ‘ball out’ against Pakistan in a tied match during the World Cup.
Uthappa played a match-winning knock in the qualifiers and final for CSK last year as Dhoni’s team won the trophy for the fourth time in their history.