Former India cricketers MS Dhoni and Suresh Raina share an exemplary bond. From being together in the Indian Cricket Team to sharing the bond in Chennai Super Kings in the IPL, both of them have spent a lot of time with each other.
Incidentally, both Dhoni and Raina retired from international cricket on the same day – August 15, 2020. Speaking to Gaurav Kapur on the 22 Yarns podcast, Suresh Raina revealed a few incidents of banters between him and MS Dhoni.
Also Read: ICC T20 World Cup 2021: India To Play Pakistan After Being Drawn Together In Group 2
Raina on MS Dhoni
"When Dhoni carried drinks for me during 2018 T20I Series. He brought whole kit bag to the ground and said "Take whatever you want, Don't call me again" 😂#MSDhoni | @MSDhoni | #TeamIndia pic.twitter.com/zwWsHnqnux
— MSDian™ (@ItzThanesh) July 16, 2021
Speaking about one of the incidents when India were playing against Ireland, MS Dhoni came out the drinks for Suresh Raina in the middle. The left-hander, however, would deliberately keep asking for stuff from Dhoni just to pull his leg.
“We had gone to Ireland in 2018 and enjoyed ourselves there after the matches. Dhoni bhai carried drinks for me there. At one moment, he thought that I asked for a lot of gloves and bats, so he brought the whole kit bag to the ground and said: ‘Take whatever you want, don’t call me again’.
“I think I was batting alongside Rahul and we both had hit fifties. He (Dhoni) said ‘I won’t come again, it’s very cold out here’. (chuckles) I still said, ‘Do one thing, bring a grip as well’. And he replied: ‘Bohot bade waala hai tu, tu rukja, paani pi, mai leke aata hu’. So it was that kind of fun. I thought to myself that I’ll take full revenge that day,” Raina revealed.
When MS Dhoni welcomed Suresh Raina at the crease
Suresh Raina and MS Dhoni have mostly been in the IPL with CSK, there were a couple of seasons where they played for different franchises — Gujarat Lions and Rising Pune Supergiant — while the Chennai Super Kings were banned from the T20 league.
During a game between Gujarat and Pune, the southpaw revealed how Dhoni welcomed him on the crease.
“Yes, there were mixed emotions. I remember we were playing in Rajkot and, Ashwin was bowling’ McCullum was at the non-striker end; I was batting; Dhoni bhai was keeping; Faf du Plessis was standing at first slip. It felt like we were playing the Kanga League of my neighborhood! (chuckles)… When I went in to bat, Dhoni bhai said, ‘Aao aao captain sahab, aao’, and I said ‘Aare hai are hai bhai, zara peeche ho thoda!’ (I am coming brother, move aside first!). This was all very fun,” Suresh Raina added.
