Robin Uthappa has revealed how “annoying” it was to play against MS Dhoni.© BCCI/IPL
Since announcing his international retirement in August 2020, former India captain MS Dhoni is only available for the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) in the Indian Premier League (IPL). Dhoni returns to action on Saturday when CSK take on Mumbai Indians at Wankhede Stadium. After losing to Gujarat Titans in the tournament opener, CSK defeated Lucknow Super Giants by 12 runs in their previous match, with Dhoni hitting two crucial sixes to squeeze down pacer Mark Wood.
Despite not being the same batsman anymore, there was still no doubt about Dhoni’s captaincy.
Former India and CSK batsman Robin Uthappa has revealed how “annoying” it was to play against Dhoni.
“When I played against CSK I was always very annoyed. I was very annoyed with him. (recounts on-screen incident) He didn’t have a good leg for Hazlewood so I knew he would bowl to this corner. (outside- off). I tried to get a boundary there (deep point) and got out. He forces you to play in areas you are not used to playing. He plays with the batter’s mind. He doesn’t just force the batter to thinks differently, he forces the bowlers to think differently,” Uthappa said on Jio Cinema.
Uthappa also added that Dhoni always played with the mind of the batter, recalling one such case during his time with CSK.
“He puts the bowler in a situation where he feels like he has to take that wicket option. Devdutt played the pick-up shot really well. So he said, ‘Okay, we’ll force him to play that shot’, and he put the fine leg in more of a leg trench. I was like ‘where does he come up with these things?'” he added.
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