Deepak Chahar has often recounted how MS Dhoni keeps getting angry with him.
This incident was also narrated by ex-CSK pacer Mohit Sharma on a podcast and even Chahar himself has opened up on instances where Dhoni has scolded him.
Speaking at a RIGI function, Dhoni was made aware of one of Chahar's earlier comments, before the older cricketer disclosed that the former had only one gripe against him: he was not used as a death-over bowler.
“This happened a few years back. He has always been an excellent cricketer for us. But he always complained against me saying that I never use him in the death overs. I asked him, 'When you are bowling so well in the powerplay and are taking wickets, then why do you want to bowl in the death?' On 90 per cent of the matches we used to bowl him with the new ball and use another bowler in the death,” Dhoni was quoted as saying by Hindustan Times.
Hence, in a match against Kings XI Punjab (now Punjab Kings) in IPL 2019, Dhoni handed Chahar the old ball in the penultimate over of the contest, with the opposition requiring 39 runs to win off 12 balls.
However, the fast bowler ended up producing back-to-back no balls, which irritated Dhoni, who chastised Chahar on the field, with video of the incident going viral at the time.
Speaking about the event, the great wicketkeeper-batter claimed that he had expressly urged Chahar not to bowl the knuckleball since he sweats a lot, but the latter disobeyed it, resulting in the no balls.
“Now he sweats a lot. And he also loves to use variations a lot. He is an intelligent bowler. So I advised him against bowling the knuckleball because he sweats a lot, but he thinks he knows everything. He had to try that. Usko lagta hain humne daari dhoop mein safed ki hain (He thinks my beard turned grey by staying in the sun).
That led to no balls. Then I went to him, I can't say the exact words, but I told him I didn't want to see all the deliveries in your arsenal. After a lot of thinking, I repeatedly told him to bowl that, but he still did. But at the end of the day, he understood. We all make mistakes and learning from those is important,” he said.
During the same event, MS Dhoni cleared that he wants to enjoy a few more years of his career, thus hinting at his return to IPL for the 2025 season.
Later on Saturday, CSK CEO K.S. Viswanathan all but confirmed that Dhoni will be retained by the franchise.
“We also saw what he had said in the press conference. When he says he wants to enjoy it for a few more years, what more do we want? We are happy and will sit and discuss with him once he returns to Ranchi on October 28 or 29,” Viswanathan was quoted by Sportstar.