Former Indian cricket skipper MS Dhoni, on his business trip to Lucknow, spoke about the cricketing talent Uttar Pradesh (UP) have. Talking about his cricket Under-19 days when he played against UP, Dhoni said they were good back then too. 

"UP has a lot of cricketing talent. There have been some extraordinary talent coming from the state. When I used to play U-19, then also the team of UP was way too good. The fast bowlers here are experts in swinging the ball both ways. And everyone knows that the state has given several great batsmen to the sport."

Dhoni was moved by the love and affection Lucknow showed him. He shared memories of his previous visits to the city. "Lucknow is not a new place for me. Main yahan aakar kaafi cricket khel chuka hoon. Kaafi acchhe tournaments hote thay yahan. Aur iske alawa jab bhi Kanpur match khelne jaate hain toh Lucknow se hokar hi guzarte hain," said the Indian team wicketkeeper, adding, "Hopefully, I will keep coming to Lucknow and will spend more time here, as now I have professional obligations here."

The former skipper spoke about the emergence of Nepal in international cricket. They have now got the ODI status. "It’s very good to see them qualifying. I was fortunate to meet the team once and they were working very hard so I told them to focus and enjoy the game to be on the top. To make cricket a global sport, I believe more and more such teams must come into the fray. And it is good that associate nations are trying to gain ICC’s ODI status."

Dhoni cheekily opened up about the workload of cricketers. He said, "I have already retired from Test Cricket so the workload is not an issue with me anymore."