'Stop looking at me and bowl' - CSK throwdown specialist reveals first meeting with MS Dhoni

While the list of admirers of legendary skipper MS Dhoni is long, here comes another one in form of CSK throwdown specialist Kondappa Raj Palani. Palani recently opened up on his first meeting with Dhoni in the UAE when the teams were gearing up for the 13^th edition of the Indian Premier League. It was in the same year (2020) when the CSK skipper had announced his international retirement in August and was gearing up with the Yellow Army.

Palani added that when the camp started, Dhoni had retired and he needed some practice in the nets for which he (Palani) was called. Palani added everyone in the nets was talking about Dhoni’s retirement only and Stephen Fleming and Hussey told him to bowl carefully to the Ranchi hero.

“The first time, the camp started when Dhoni retired. I saw him for the first time then. He asked if you were the throwers. He asked me to throw balls at him. The team was pleased after that. The net bowlers were speaking about his retirement. After two or three weeks, he came to play sidearm. Everybody was arriving,” said Palani while speaking on the CSK website.

MS Dhoni asked me to play naturally: CSK throwdown specialist

“Fleming, Hussey, and everyone said Dhoni was coming and asked me to bowl carefully. The first two balls were wides. The next ball was a full toss. Dhoni came to me and said ‘Stop looking at me and bowl’. He asked me to play naturally. I then started bowling wherever he wanted and then he was very happy. He started addressing me every day since with my name,” he added.

The 2020 edition of the IPL was the first instance when CSK failed to qualify for playoffs and had a forgetful season. However, they roared back in style in 2021 to lift the trophy for the fourth time. But, the current edition had the same story for CSK yet again as they became the second team to get eliminated from IPL 2022.