Samson on Sharing a CSK Dressing Room With Childhood Hero Dhoni

Sanju Samson says playing alongside MS Dhoni at Chennai Super Kings is something beyond what he imagined as a child, and he feels fortunate to be in the same dressing room.

A fan from the start

Appearing on the Super Kings Podcast, Samson explained that his admiration began when he was in the fourth or fifth standard at school. He remembered watching Dhoni walk out to bat for India with long hair, getting out a couple of times early on, and then producing a hundred against Pakistan followed by 183. That was when he became a devoted fan.

Samson specifically recalled Dhoni’s 148 against Pakistan in Visakhapatnam and his unbeaten 183 against Sri Lanka in 2005.

He said Dhoni soon became ubiquitous, on posters and in advertisements. As a boy he even cut Dhoni’s face out of a Boost bottle sticker and glued it into his diary.

Now a teammate

Today, Samson says he spends time with Dhoni regularly. He sits and chats with him, plays games with him, visits his room to ask questions and receives advice from him. In his words, any child would wish for such an opportunity, and he considers himself very lucky.