It was Mahi bhai's plan to send Jadeja in and mock the Chepauk crowd, reveals ex-CSK bowler

Star pace bowler Tushar Deshpande came to the reckoning when he first played for Chennai Super Kings in the Indian Premier League. He spent his early years in the IPL under the leadership of legendary captain MS Dhoni. Ahead of the IPL 2025, Deshpande was released by CSK and Rajasthan Royals bagged his services.

The Mumbai-born recently appeared in a conversation alongside veteran batter Ajinkya Rahane, as the latter asked him to share his funniest memory from any of the events in the CSK dressing room. The speedster then brought up the incident when Dhoni had mocked the entire crowd at the Chepauk Stadium, cheekily asking Ravindra Jadeja to pretend to walk out to bat ahead of himself during a league stage game against Kolkata Knight Riders.

"I remember when we were at CSK and playing against KKR at Chepauk, the crowd there was expecting that MS Dhoni would come out to bat, and I was just sitting in the dugout. But Mahi bhai asked me to tell Ravindra Jadeja that he has to pretend to go out for batting," Deshpande told Rahane on the latter's show Chasing The Dreams.

"I went up to Jaddu bhai and told the same thing, and then Mahi bhai will come from behind. So I was there witnessing the whole scene. When Jadeja came out, the crowd went silent, and then suddenly Mahi bhai entered from behind, and the stadium erupted with excitement to see him come out to bat. So it was kind of funny and kind of goosebumps moment," he concluded.

Dhoni has recently made a reputation for himself for coming out to bat very lower down the order for CSK. However, the reason for the same is believed to be an issue with his knees after having undergone surgery for the same in recent years. It will be interesting to see if the 44-year-old makes himself available for another season for the five-time champions for the 2026 edition of the mega T20 tournament.