'Dhoni was bowling to Karthik. I pointed, 'he's your competitor'. MS replied...': Ex-India star's staggering MSD story

The former India star recalled a time when MS Dhoni, then a second-choice wicketkeeper, was actually bowling to Dinesh Karthik in the nets.

The Chennai Super Kings continued to put out impressive performances in the 2023 Indian Premier League, as the side defeated five-time champions Mumbai Indians convincingly to break into the top-4 on Saturday night. Dhoni's CSK had faced a five-wicket loss in their opening match of the season but made a strong comeback earlier this week; they first defeated the Lucknow Super Giants by 12 runs on their homecoming to Chennai, and then topped Rohit Sharma's men in Mumbai.

MS Dhoni (Reuters)

Dhoni's men are aiming for a strong comeback this season after a forgettable outing in 2022 when they finished ninth in the table with only four wins to their name in 14 matches. The CSK are one of the most successful franchises in tournament's history with four titles to their name, and Dhoni has been a major force behind the side's glory. The wicketkeeper-batter has been the captain in CSK's all title wins, and he will be aiming to equal MI's record five titles in the ongoing edition.

Dhoni is regarded as one of the greatest captains in history, and is the only skipper to have won ICC titles/maces across all formats of the game. Many Indian cricketers – former and current – often revisit their time spent under Dhoni's captaincy with great pride, and Aakash Chopra – India's former opener – also recalled an old memory with the India legend from the time when the latter hadn't even made his international debut.

When he was making his mark in domestic cricket, Dhoni was behind in the pecking order in wicketkeeper's role with Parthiv Patel and Dinesh Karthik being the Indian team's top-two choices. Despite this, Aakash reveals, that Dhoni had once opted to bowl to Karthik to help the latter have some batting practice. When Aakash pointed out that Karthik was Dhoni's competitor, the latter had a million-dollar response.

“Dinesh Karthik was in our team, Dhoni was also there. Karthik was our first keeper, MS was sitting outside and we were in Zimbabwe. And Dhoni was actually bowling to him in nets. MS was my roommate and I had played for India by then. I told him, 'he's your competitor. Don't bowl to him. At least do some batting even if you're bowling'!” Aakash narrated the story on JioCinema.

"He replied, 'see, Aakash bhai, I will bowl because I love bowling. If you want to bat, you can do that as well. Please don't tell me I shouldn't bowl'. He was so, so confident.

“Karthik was selected for the tour of England. We went to Kenya and he got a chance to play, and rest is history. Dhoni hit so many sixes, we were shocked. We knew, he was way ahead of his time,” Aakash further said.