Bhubaneswar: Odia cricketer Subhranshu Senapati, playing for Chennai Super Kings’ recalled his first interaction with captain MS Dhoni during the pre-season camp in Surat, saying the four-time league winning captain gave him a lot of life lessons.
“He gave me a lot of life lessons drawing from his own personal experiences in cricket. It was just incredible to sit across from him and soak it all in. He is one of the greatest cricketers of all time and I feel extremely lucky that I get to pick his brains every day,” Senapati said.
“I met MS Dhoni for the first time on my first day of practice after serving a quarantine period. I introduced myself to all the players while getting on the team bus. Mahi bhai was the last to get on. I had prepared a lot of things to say to him but words failed to come out of my mouth when he came in front of me. I could just manage to tell him my name before he went to his seat at the back of the bus,” Senapati was quoted as saying by Sambad English.
“My interactions with him picked up pace as practice continued. He is also a great footballer which I learned after playing with him. During net sessions, I could see from the corner of my eye that he was observing me every day,” he added.
Senapati recalled the auction day, where he was with the Odisha Ranji Trophy team in quarantine in Ahmedabad.
“The funniest thing happened with my family in Keonjhar. They were ecstatic for me and were celebrating among themselves but within 10 minutes of my signing, mediapersons completely surrounded our house. My family was shocked as this is not something that they had ever experienced in life. I had never expected to see my mother speaking to journalists standing in front of cameras. I have an older sister who is a teacher like my father and a younger brother who is playing district level cricket. They were all very happy and I am glad that I could put smiles on their faces,” he said.
Senapati will be playing for Chennai Super Kings (CSK) in this season of the Indian Premier League (IPL) set to begin on Saturday (March 26). Mahendra Singh Dhoni-led CSK has paid Rs 20 lakh for the Ranji Trophy player from Odisha. Keonjhar-born Senapati made his debut for Odisha in 2016-17 Ranji season.
Senapati, 25, is a middle-order batsman and is also handy with the ball, will be one of the few Odisha cricketers to play for the IPL. He was the leading run-scorer for Odisha in the 2017–18 Ranji Trophy, with 427 runs in six matches. Senapati was also the leading run-scorer for Odisha in the 2018–19 Ranji Trophy, with 617 runs in nine matches.
(with inputs from IANS)
