Ahead of the 2025 Indian Premier League, Rajasthan Royals captain Sanju Samson spoke about his deep respect for MS Dhoni, the former captain of India and Chennai Super Kings. Samson expressed how much he values the time he spends with Dhoni.
Dhoni is set to participate in the 2025 IPL season with Chennai Super Kings, aiming for his sixth championship. Chennai Super Kings, now led by Ruturaj Gaikwad, will begin their season against Mumbai Indians, their rivals and five-time champions, at their home stadium in Chepauk.
Samson mentioned that, like many young cricketers in India, he always admired MS Dhoni. He recounted his desire to be around Dhoni, to talk to him and learn his approach to the game whenever they played against Chennai Super Kings. He described it as a dream.
Samson recalled a match in Sharjah against CSK where he performed well, scoring around 70-80 runs and winning the game, also becoming the Man of the Match. After that game, he finally met Dhoni, and their relationship has grown since then. Samson mentioned that he still meets Dhoni frequently, even recently. He feels blessed to have gone from idolizing Dhoni to now spending time with him for events and shoots, feeling like he is living his dream. Samson shared these thoughts on JioHotstar as part of the ‘SuperStar’ program.
Before the 2025 season, CSK retained Dhoni as an uncapped player for 4 crore rupees. The IPL introduced a rule last year allowing teams to retain uncapped players who have not played international cricket for five years.
Since retiring from international cricket in 2020, Dhoni has only played in the IPL. In the 2024 season, he scored 161 runs in 11 innings with a strike rate of 220 and an average of 53.66. He remained not out eight times, fulfilling his role as a finisher for the five-time champions.
Dhoni is the sixth-highest scorer in IPL history, with 5,243 runs in 264 matches and 229 innings, averaging 39.12 with a strike rate of 137.53, including 24 half-centuries. His highest score is 84 not out. Besides CSK, Dhoni also played for Rising Pune Supergiant from 2016-17, a team that is no longer active.
