NewDelhi: South African cricketer Imran Tahir, who is also MS Dhoni’s Chennai Super Kings teammate recalled the first time he met the former India skipper.
It was during IPL 2017, when CSK was facing a two-year suspension and both Dhoni and Tahir played for Pune Supergiant.
In an interaction with Anis Sajan on Facebook Live chat show ‘Cricket Unplugged’, Tahir recalled the time when Dhoni invited him to his room.
“I had been watching him (Dhoni) on TV. But I never met in person. I first met him when I got picked for Pune and actually I was quite nervous, I didn’t know how to react,” Tahir said.
“But I was amazed, I was outside my room door and he came to me from his room and said: ‘Imran bhai, welcome. This is my room and you are more than welcome anytime,” he added.
“This is probably the best thing to hear from a legend like Dhoni. Like I said, it was very kind of him. He is such a down to earth guy. I thought ‘If you are offering me that, I am definitely coming to your room’. That was very kind of him,” Tahir said.
The proteas spinner further revealed that Dhoni used to bring mangoes for the entire CSK squad. “Like I said, that was the first time I met him personally. We used to go to his room, we still go because he gets mangoes coming in from all over the world. We love to eat that. All of us.”
In the IPL, Tahir has picked 79 wickets in 55 IPL matches at an average of 20.39.
Meanwhile, the 13th edition of the Indian Premier League is set to take place in September in the United Arab Emirates. IPL was originally postponed indefinitely in March due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.
