Dhoni a 'shy guy', started opening up after 2008 Sydney Test: Harbhajan

Veteran spinner Harbhajan Singh also says that it was strange to put on the Chennai Super Kings jersey for the first time

Former India spinner Harbhajan Singh on Wednesday said that MS Dhoni was a shy person when he joined the team and started opening up after the 2008 Sydney Test against Australia.
 
Harbhajan was doing an Instagram Live Session on the official handle of Chennai Super Kings and it was then that the spinner was asked to name his favourite memories with Dhoni.
 
Answering the question, Harbhajan replied: "We have played a lot of cricket together, we have done tours to probably all the countries, MS Dhoni was a very shy guy, he never used to come to our rooms, he was a very quiet guy, in the 2008 series against Australia, the Sydney Test brought the team together, from that time onwards, he started opening up".

 
"He was a young guy in the team, he was the captain but still he was very shy, he used to give suggestions, but he allowed everyone to do their thing, he is still the same, he gives everyone all the freedom, this is probably something people should learn from him, you should give space to bowlers," he added.
 

The 2008 Sydney Test between India and Australia is still remembered by everyone as Harbhajan Singh and Andrew Symonds were involved in an on-field tussle.
 
Symonds had alleged that Harbhajan had passed a racist remark upon him and since then, the incident is known as 'MonkeyGate'.
 
During the 2008 Sydney Test, India also had to face few bad decisions and the side ended up losing the match.
 
For the altercation with Symonds, Harbhajan was handed a three-match ban by referee Mike Procter although the charges were downgraded on 29 January 2008 to the lesser charge of using abusive language and the ban was lifted.

 


Thirty-eight-year-old Dhoni has been currently enjoying some time away from the game. He last played competitive cricket during the 2019 World Cup.
 
Felt strange wearing the CSK jersey at first: Harbhajan
 
Veteran spinner Harbhajan Singh said that it was strange to put on the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) jersey for the first time. Harbhajan joined CSK in 2018 after spending nearly a decade at Mumbai Indians with whom he won the Indian Premier League three times.
 
MI used to compete regularly with CSK for top honours in the league and Harbhajan said that matches between the two sides were like India-Pakistan encounters.
 
"First time, it was very strange. I was like 'what is this? Is this a dream?' Whenever we played against CSK, it was like India-Pakistan, it was a tough game. Then suddenly, I was not wearing blue and wearing yellow was difficult. It was very difficult to get used to," he said in an Instagram Live interaction with CSK.
 
"Luckily, we played our first match against Mumbai. I was like, 'it was good we got over this match early'. Throughout the first season, it was difficult. After that, we won the trophy. The second season was better," he said.
 
The 39-year-old won the 2018 title with CSK before losing to MI in the final in 2019. At CSK, he was reunited with his Indian teammate MS Dhoni. The pair were part of the Indian teams that won the 2007 World T20 and 2011 World Cup.