Senior Indian cricketer Robin Uthappa, who has played with MS Dhoni since the 2007 T20 World Cup, shared interesting anecdotes about the Ranchi superstar’s wit on the field.
In an interaction on stand-up comedian Sorabh Pant’s YouTube channel ‘Wake Up with Sorabh’, one of the fans asked Uthappa whether Dhoni is someone who endorses sledging.
In his reply, Uthappa shared an interesting incident and said Dhoni’s wit could be faster than his glovework.
“I’ll give you an example. MS said to Kevin Pietersen, when he sledged him from the commentary box. MS told him ‘listen I’ve gotten your wicket so please keep quiet. So, I think that is proof enough for what he endorses and what he doesn’t. He’s very quick-witted. His wit, if not the same speed of his glovework, it could be faster. MS’ wit is quick,” Uthappa said.
Playing against Australia remained to be one of the biggest challenges as the Aussies used sledging as a weapon to put pressure on their opponents.
Uthappa also recalled a match from 2007 against Australia where Dhoni had given him the responsibility to sledge senior Australian cricketers like Ricky Ponting.
“In 2007 when we played a one-off T20 game against Australia, we were at it. MS would put me in charge of sledging some of the senior members of that Australia team like Ricky Ponting. So, in a one-day game, they would make me stand at silly point just to chew Ricky Ponting and all. It was great fun,” Uthappa added.
Ever since he took over as the captain of the Indian cricket team, Dhoni honed the skills of several young players and it was the start of a new era for the Men in Blue as Team India won the inaugural World Twenty20 under Dhoni’s leadership in 2007.
