‘Was eating roti, butter chicken…’: Suresh Raina recalls meeting Dhoni for first time, attending his wedding

New Delhi: The friendship between MS Dhoni and Suresh Raina is known to every cricket fan and is widely celebrated by the Chennai Super Kings fans. CSK fans also named Raina ‘Chinna Thala’ after they named Dhoni ‘Thala’. In a Jio Cinema series ‘My Time With Dhoni’, Suresh Raina recalled the time when he met the former Indian captain for the first time.

Raina recalled the time when he first saw MS Dhoni’s power-hitting in 2004 when Raina represented Central Zone and Dhoni played for the East Zone. He said that they were hearing a lot about a player with long hair from Jharkhand, who was known for hitting big sixes.

Recalling meeting Dhoni, Raina said that one day, all the players were hanging around while Dhoni was quietly eating his roti and butter chicken in a corner. He said that Gyanu bhai saw him and exclaimed that Dhoni cannot hit big, let him enjoy his food as he eats slowly. In the game, Dhoni went for hitting sixes from the very first ball and Gyanu bhai changed his statement and said that this batter from Ranchi hits big.

During the episode, Raina also said that they bonded quickly as both of them were from small towns and were fans of Sachin Tendulkar. He also said that Dhoni does not leave behind his friends and stays close to his roots.

He also told that he wore Dhoni’s clothes to his wedding as he was suddenly invited by Sakshi and him.

Talking about Dhoni’s bike collections, the batter said that he has 70-80 bikes, which he cleans and assembles himself. He added that now Dhoni is into collecting vintage cars.

Recalling the game against Rajasthan Royals when Dhoni walked onto the field for a no-ball, Raina said that the rules say he should not have walked in but he felt something wrong happening on the field. He said that his favourite moment was when Dhoni hit a huge six in Dharmashala and punched himself and added that he had not seen MSD like that ever.