Indian wicket-keeper and CSK captain MS Dhoni lauded Chennai Super Kings' owner N Srinivasan and said he learned a lot from the former BCCI president. Dhoni was present at the coffee-table book launch.
The book 'Defying The Paradigm' was released by the Tamil Nadu chief minister Edappadi K Palaniswami.
Dhoni spoke about his relation with Srinivasan. He added that spending time with him helped the former India captain understand life. "You can love him, you can hate him, but you can't ignore him. Majority of us definitely fall into the first category. I was fortunate to have been able to spend a lot of time with him, got to understand life, how you're supposed to deal with failures, how you're not supposed to give up, how to keep helping others to make sure they perform to their potential.
"My first interaction [with Srinivasan] was during a Test match when he became the [BCCI] Treasurer. He came in during a break and enquired about the payment. One of our cricketers said, 'if we are lucky we will get it after four months'. Srinivasan looked around and said - 'why is it that they have to wait four months for their payment'. It was looked after that."
The CSK skipper's bonding with Srinivasan has often been criticized. He was questioned after India Cements managing director's son-in-law Gurunath Meiyappan was caught betting in IPL matches.
But that incident didn't affect his relationships with Srinivasan. Talking about the association with him, Dhoni said, "I got to learn a lot out of him. The interactions have been very friendly because I was with CSK for the longest time. Whenever CSK was going through a rough phase, a lot of interactions were about how we don't mind the opposition winning the game. We don't want to lose the game. He is someone who has played it very hard but very fair. With Srini sir, it was a very special bonding."
Other cricketers like Yuvraj Singh, Gautam Gambhir, Virender Sehwag, and Rahul Dravid were also present there.
Dravid said the cricketing knowledge of Srinivasan had surprised him. "I would like to speak a few things which would signify the man that N Srinivasan was for me. I joined India Cements in 1994. Mr. Srinivasan would come to watch our league matches at the Guru Nanak College Ground in Chennai.
"Not only would he come, what amazed me was his knowledge. At the end of a long day, we would come back to the dressing room and having a conversation. Mr. Srinivasan would join the conversation and what amazed me in those early years was his knowledge about league cricket. He would also know the scores of what was happening in other league games and how that would affect us in the table," Dravid said.
"Srinivasan's achievements with BCCI and ICC have been encapsulated here. But for me, the core of everything that has happened comes back to his love and passion for cricket."
Kapil Dev, the world cup winning skipper elucidated the role of Srinivasan in enhancing the Indian cricket.
"I met Mr. Srinivasan 20 years back or maybe little more. I had almost finished my career - why did you come so late? .We played cricket at the very highest level. But we never had a person like you who could administer us when we were playing cricket," Kapil said.
"You were the one who made an impact in the cricketing world. I can say proudly we used to wish our salaries would be like Australian or English players. Today, all Australian, England and South African players are saying - can we have a salary like Indian players?"
(With India Today Inputs)
