'He would come and start abusing': MS Dhoni reveals unheard tale about former CSK player

CSK vs RR: Mahendra Singh Dhoni became the first player to captain an Indian Premier League side in 200 matches. The CSK skipper received a grand tribute ahead of CSK's IPL match against Rajasthan Royals at the Chepauk Stadium. The former Indian captain reflected on his IPL journey so far as he opened up to discuss the journey since the inception of the cash-rich tournament.

The IPL was the first platform where Indian players could rub shoulders with foreign players. The first IPL mega auction saw some of the stalwarts donning the jerseys of various IPL sides and Matthew Hayden was one such name who was roped in by Chennai. Dhoni revealed he was scared of the former Australian opener as he thought Hayden would be abusing right away after his arrival.

"There is always a curiosity to know how a franchise operates. It is a completely new environment. It was also the first time that you were going to share the dressing room with foreign players. And you did not know how they were."

"Take Matthew Hayden for example, we always thought that he would come and start abusing left right and centre. But it was very interesting that before our first match against Kings XI Punjab, Matthew Hayden took the initiative in the team meeting while discussing strategy. The first thing he said was that he would take Brett Lee on. I did not understand a lot at the time and asked what did he mean. Hayden said that I would walk down the track and meet Brett Lee halfway. On the next day, he repeated the exact thing in the first or second ball of the game. That was the kind of approach he had. So it was very interesting."

Rajasthan Royals (Playing XI): Yashasvi Jaiswal, Jos Buttler, Sanju Samson(w/c), Devdutt Padikkal, Shimron Hetmyer, Dhruv Jurel, Ravichandran Ashwin, Jason Holder, Kuldeep Sen, Sandeep Sharma, Yuzvendra Chahal

Chennai Super Kings (Playing XI): Devon Conway, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Ajinkya Rahane, Moeen Ali, Shivam Dube, Ravindra Jadeja, MS Dhoni(w/c), Sisanda Magala, Maheesh Theekshana, Tushar Deshpande, Akash Singh

Read More: CSK vs RR IPL Live Score, today match latest updates

Rajasthan Royals Subs: Riyan Parag, Donavon Ferreira, KM Asif, Adam Zampa, Joe Root

Chennai Super Kings Subs: Ambati Rayudu, Mitchell Santner, Subhranshu Senapati, Shaik Rasheed, Rajvardhan Hangargekar