Chennai: Chennai Super Kings batsman Subhranshu Senapati, who was picked by the franchise ahead of IPL 2022, recalled his first interaction with captain Dhoni during the pre-season camp in Surat.
“I met MS Dhoni for the first time on my first day of practice after serving a quarantine period. I introduced myself to all the players while getting on the team bus. Mahi bhai was last to get on. I had prepared a lot of things to say to him but words failed to come out of my mouth when he came in front of me. I could just manage to tell him my name before he went to his seat at the back of the bus,” he told Sambad English.
“My interactions with him picked up pace as practice continued. He is also a great footballer which I learned after playing with him. During net sessions, I could see from the corner of my eye that he was observing me every day.
“Then one day during a shoot for an advertisement, I could manage to pick his brain for a few hours. For nearly three hours he advised me and gave me tips on things that transcend cricket. He is deeply philosophical in that sense.
“As a young player who has grown up watching him, my first question to him was of course about his batting, how he prepares himself before an innings, his technique, etc. and he gave me a very smart answer. He advised me to first assess my own strengths and weaknesses before following someone else’s training regimen. He told me to work hard at the nets every day and use my brains to pick out the things that I am doing wrong, to fine tune my technique and learn from other cricketers during practice. Introspect and take a mental note of your game before adapting different methods to improve. That was a great piece of advice, in my opinion.
“He gave me a lot of life lessons drawing from his own personal experiences in cricket. It was just incredible to sit across from him and soak it all in. He is one of the greatest cricketers of all time and I feel extremely lucky that I get to pick his brains every day.”
Senapati recalled the auction day, where he was with the Odisha Ranji Trophy team in quarantine in Ahmedabad.
“The funniest thing happened with my family in Keonjhar. They were ecstatic for me and were celebrating among themselves but within 10 minutes of my signing, mediapersons completely surrounded our house. My family was shocked as this is not something that they had ever experienced in life. I had never expected to see my mother speaking to journalists standing in front of cameras. I have an older sister who is a teacher like my father and a younger brother who is playing district level cricket. They were all very happy and I am glad that I could put smiles on their faces.”
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