He revealed Dhoni had sent heartfelt texts after two major trophy wins
Over the years, many Indian cricketers have spoken about their admiration for Mahendra Singh Dhoni and the respect they have for him as a player. Multiple trophies with both India and in the Indian Premier League (IPL). But people who know him personally, often speak about his lack of responses through phone.
Robin Uthappa, his long-time friend and teammate in IPL and India, spoke about it at a length recently.
“He is very bad at picking up calls and its very frustrating. We have to call his manager to let him know that we are coming to see him. But once we sit down with him, its like no time has passed. He’s still the same Mahi as he was back then in 2004 when I first met and played with,” Uthapppa had said in an interview with Lallantop.
But there are some instances where the legendary captain has picked up his phone to wish someone all by himself. Delhi Capitals captain and India all-rounder Axar Patel was the receiving end of these special messages from Dhoni when he won the 2024 T20 World Cup and the 2025 Champions Trophy.
“I have a very close connection with Mahi bhai. When he was Captain of the Indian team I used to share my thoughts with him. After the T20 WC & Champions Trophy, I got his message,” Axar said ahead of Saturday’s clash against Chennai Super Kings at the Chepauk.
Axar, as the full-time captain of an IPL franchise for the first time, has had a great start to the current season as DC beat Lucknow Super Giants by a single wicket in a thriller. Then they comprehensively beat Sunrisers Hyderabad in the second match in Visakhapatnam by restricting a fiery batting unit to 163 all out and then bulldozed the target within 16 overs while having seven wickets in hand.
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Dhoni, meanwhile, has had a lukewarm start to IPL 2025 as he accounted for two incredible stumpings of Suryakumar Yadav and Phil Salt but failed with the bat. After remaining not out on a nought in the easy win against Mumbai Indians, he failed to get CSK over the line against bitter-rivals Royal Challengers Bengaluru in their own backyard despite scoring 30 not out off 16 balls. He was dismissed for a paltry 16 off 11 balls in the six-run defeat against Rajasthan Royals in chase of 183.
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