World Cup-winning India off-spinner Harbhajan Singh said MS Dhoni remained a ‘very shy’ person until the 2008 series in Australia that ‘brought everyone together’. Harbhajan Singh said MS Dhoni didn’t talk much or hang out with the rest of his teammates on overseas tours. However, things changed after the controversial Sydney Test match in 2008 wherein Harbhajan was accused of using a racially abusive insult against Andrew Symonds.
“We have played a lot of cricket together, we have toured a lot of countries together West Indies, Sri Lanka, New Zealand, Australia. MS was a very shy guy. He never used to come to our rooms. He used to be on his own. We used to hang out with Sachin [Tendulkar], Zaheer [Khan], Ashish [Nehra] and Yuvi [Yuvraj Singh]. MS was a very quiet guy,” Harbhajan said.
“And then the 2008 series happened. The Test match (Sydney) got everyone together in the Indian team. Those moments made us believe ‘we are all together in this’. From that time onwards, he started opening up a bit and started sitting with us. Of course, he was a young guy.”
“But even after he became captain, he was quite shy. When he used to give suggestions, he came to us. He still remains the same. He will not tell you what field to set and what not to.
“Not just me, but everyone. A guy like Deepak Chahar, he gave everything the freedom he needed to explore himself. That’s something everyone should learn from him giving you the space you need to a bowler or a batsman is a very, very important,” Harbhajan said.
