IPL 2023: Former India opener Robin Uthappa opened up about MS Dhoni’s eating habits and recalled a variety of occasions from their time together in the dressing room. Uthappa and Dhoni were teammates for the Indian cricket team and the Chennai Super Kings during the IPL. Uthappa recounted some odd eating habits of the 41-year-old CSK captain, prompting him to believe that Dhoni is a rigid person when it comes to eating.
“We used to always eat together. We had a group: Suresh Raina, Irfan Pathan, RP Singh, Piyush Chawla, Munaf (Patel), MS and me. We would order dal makhni, butter chicken, jeera aloo, gobi and rotis. But MS is a very rigid person when it comes to eating. He would eat butter chicken but without the chicken, only with the gravy! When he ate chicken, he wouldn’t eat the rotis. He is quite weird when it comes to eating,” recalled the 37-year-old with a hearty laugh in an episode of “My Time With Heroes” titled “My Time With Dhoni ft. Uthappa,” which is available on JioCinema.
Uthappa gave an explanation of why Dhoni had such remarkable success as a captain, both for India and CSK. “He has sharp instincts and he backs his own instincts. That’s why he’s been such a successful captain. He takes responsibility for every outcome, whether it is a win or a loss.
“If he takes a bad decision because of his instincts, the man can’t sleep for a few days. He starts overthinking. If a good captain’s instincts are sound 4 or 5 out of 10 times, Dhoni’s instincts are sound 8 times or 9 times.”
Uthappa also spoke about Dhoni’s other traits. “MS is a very open person. He does not hesitate in speaking the truth, even if it hurts you.” He shared the first conversation he had with Dhoni after the IPL auction a few years ago.
“I remember when I was signed by CSK in the auction, he called me and said, ‘I am not sure if you’ll get a chance to play because the season is still far away and I haven’t given it any thought. If you do end up playing, I will let you know.’ By now, I had enjoyed 13 successful years in the IPL. Still, he told me to my face what he had to do. I still appreciate that a lot.”
About his time at CSK in Dhoni’s presence, Uthappa said: “In the first season, I saw everyone in the squad calling him Mahi bhai. I went up to him and asked if I should call him Mahi bhai too. He dismissed it saying, call me what you want, it makes no difference. Please call me Mahi only.”
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