Former Chennai Super Kings batter Robin Uthappa revealed in a recent interview that he used to hate playing against MS Dhoni's CSK in the Indian Premier League.
Uthappa, who spent two seasons at CSK under Dhoni's captaincy in 2021 and 2022, explained the reason behind him being "annoyed" when playing against the four-time champions, mainly because of skipper Dhoni.
Uthappa narrated an incident when he got out while playing against CSK due to Dhoni's tactical moves and genius field placements.
"When I played against CSK, I used to be very annoyed. I was very irritated with him. (Narrating an incident playing on-screen) He didn't have a fine leg for Hazlewood, so I knew he will bowl to this angle (outside-off).
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"I tried getting a boundary there (deep point), and got out. He forces you to play in areas wher eyou're not used to playing. He plays with batsmen's mind.
"He not just forces the batsmen to think differently, he forces the bowlers to think differently as well," Uthappa said on Jio Cinema.
Uthappa in awe of Dhoni's cricketing brain
He went on to highlight Dhoni's cricketing brain which he uses to full effect during cricket matches and always makes sure to stay ahead of the opposition.
"He puts the bowler in a situation where he feels that he need to take that wicket-taking option.
"Devdutt (Padikkal) was playing the pick-up shot really well. So he said, 'okay, we will force him to play that shot', and he brought the fine leg more into a leg-gully sort of a position. I was like, 'where does he come up with these things?'," Uthappa said.
