Ahead of the Indian Premier League 2025, Rajasthan Royals (RR) captain Sanju Samson shared his high regard for MS Dhoni, the former India and Chennai Super Kings skipper, and the value he places on spending time with him. Dhoni is set to participate in the 2025 IPL season for Chennai Super Kings (CSK), aiming for his sixth title. CSK, now under the leadership of Ruturaj Gaikwad, will commence their campaign against five-time champions Mumbai Indians (MI) at their home ground in Chepauk.
Samson expressed that, like many young Indian cricketers, he has always aspired to be around MS Dhoni. He recounted his desire to interact with Dhoni whenever they played against CSK, wanting to learn about Dhoni’s approach and strategies. This aspiration turned into reality after a match in Sharjah where Samson performed well, scoring around 70-80 runs and earning the Man of the Match award. Following this game, he met Dhoni, and their relationship has strengthened since then. Samson mentioned that he continues to meet Dhoni frequently and feels blessed to have progressed from idolizing him to now collaborating with him for events, considering it a dream come true.
Prior to the 2025 season, Dhoni was retained by CSK as an uncapped player for Rs 4 crore, benefiting from a recent IPL rule that allows franchises to retain uncapped players who have not played international cricket for five years.
Since retiring from international cricket in 2020, Dhoni has exclusively played in the IPL. In the 2024 season, he scored 161 runs in 11 innings at a strike rate of 220 and an average of 53.66, remaining not out eight times and fulfilling the role of a finisher for the team.
Dhoni ranks as the sixth-highest run-scorer in IPL history, accumulating 5,243 runs in 264 matches and 229 innings, with an average of 39.12 and a strike rate of 137.53, including 24 fifties. His highest score is 84*. Besides CSK, Dhoni also represented Rising Pune Supergiant from 2016-17.
