MUMBAI: Rajasthan Royals' leg-spinner Yuzvendra Chahal has revealed he was bowled over by Mahendra Singh Dhoni's unassuming nature when the veteran cricketer called him and said "call me whatever but not sir".
Chahal received the ODI cap from Dhoni on the tour of Zimbabwe in June 2016 and was later given an opportunity against England in the T20Is.
"I received the ODI cap from the great MS Dhoni. He is a legend and I was with him for the first time. I was not even able to talk in front of him. He talks so nicely that you wonder if he is really Mahendra Singh Dhoni, the legend," Chahal said in the YouTube show Breakfast with Champions.
"When I met him for the first time in Zimbabwe I used to call him Mahi sir. After a while (later) he called me over and said, 'Mahi, Dhoni, Mahendra Singh Dhoni or Bhai...call me whatever you want but not sir," said Chahal, who emerged the highest wicket-taker in IPL 2022 taking 27 scalps, with a best of 5/40.
The right-arm leg spinner has grabbed 81 wickets in 46 ODIs at an average of 25.32 and an economy of 4.92 while playing alongside the former World Cup-winning captain.