Chennai Super Kings (CSK) opener Robin Uthappa recently revealed that it was hard for him to address his friend Mahendra Singh Dhoni as “Mahi Bhai”.
Robin Uthappa opens up on his relationship with MS Dhoni
Speaking on Ravichandran Ashwin‘s YouTube channel, Uthappa said that he had a word with Dhoni in this regard. Replying to Uthappa, the former India captain asked him to call him by any name he wanted.
Uthappa, who made his India debut in 2006, said he first met Dhoni at a Challenger Trophy in 2004 and the two players got to know each other well when Uthappa began travelling with the Indian team.
Uthappa and Dhoni played 47 matches for India together between 2006 and 2012 before they reunited at CSK in 2020.
“Today, for me, it’s very hard to call him Mahi bhai. Because when I got to know him he was Mahi, MS,” Uthappa said on Ashwin’s YouTube show.
“I played with him after 12 years. After 2008, when I got dropped from the team, I am playing with him in the same team after like 12-13 years.
“I said ‘What should I call you, dude? I don’t know. Should I call you Mahi bhai because everyone around me is calling you Mahi bhai?’
“He was like ‘Hey, call me MS, or Mahi or however you want me to’. That’s how simple he is. It’s just an example of who he is as a human being.”
‘MS FUNNY AND WITTY’
Furthermore, Uthappa said he found MS Dhoni special and unique from the time when he was not even India captain. The Bengaluru cricketer said Dhoni spoke very less but he was funny and witty.
“I first met MS Dhoni during my debut in Challenger Series in 2004. I was very close to Sridharan Sriram. I am genuinely very fond of him as a person. Sree Bhai was also there in the Challenger Trophy, he was also close to MS and that’s when I met MS through Sree Bhai but that meeting was very brief.
“MS is an extremely witty guy. extremely funny fellow, and off the cuff. If he likes you, he will keep teasing you. And if you take offence to that, he will stop. Like he doesn’t like offending anyone. But that’s how he shows affection.
“We connected on bikes. I was learning about bikes at that time. Those were common interests. Food was a common interest, and so were cars.
“I was telling somebody, there was something different about MS even before he became captain. He was very different in a positive light. All of them were special in a slightly shinier way. But he was special in a very simple way. Always under the radar, and quiet but had a great sense of humour. It would come out when it would come out.
“When he spoke, everyone listened. That was even before he became captain. When his opinion was asked, he would speak. He would speak only when he was spoken to and when he spoke, everyone listened.”
Notably, Uthappa played a key role in India’s T20 World Cup campaign in 2007 which they won under MS Dhoni’s captaincy. Dhoni even trusted the batter with the responsibility of bowling in the ‘Bowl Out’ against Pakistan in a tied contest during the World Cup.
Uthappa shone for CSK last year, hitting match-winning knocks in the qualifier and the final as Dhoni’s side went on to win the trophy for the 4th time in their history.
