Who was Mahendra Singh Dhoni's idol growing up? Hear it from him

He has been an idol to millions of cricket lovers, but whom did Mahendra Singh Dhoni idolise growing up?

In an interaction with students at a local school, a video clip of which was tweeted out by his franchise Chennai Super Kings, Dhoni himself answered that one: Sachin Tendulkar.


The World Cup-winning captain said he always wanted to play like Tendulkar but realised as he grew up that his own style of play was different.

"Growing up when I was your age, I used to watch him play and always thought I wanted to play like him but couldn't. But inside in my heart I always wanted to play like him. So, he was a cricketing idol growing up," answered Dhoni.

The next question from a student stumped the iconic wicketkeeper batter: "What was your favourite subject in school."

Dhoni looked around sheepishly to loud laughter from the crowd, before he asked back: "Does sports qualify as a subject?"

"Even Thala’s favourite period is PT," CSK captioned the video. Thala, Tamil for chief, is what Dhoni is called by his fans there. And PT, or Physical Training, is that period in class we'd all looked forward to.

Dhoni was last seen playing competitive cricket in IPL 2022, and he has confirmed his participation in IPL 2023.

Dhoni played 14 matches in the last edition of the Indian Premier League scoring 232 runs while remaining not out on six occasions. He averaged 33.14 in the tournament with one half-century.

Sachin Tendulkar recently led India Legends to the Road Safety World Series title. The Master Blaster scored 85 runs in six matches averaging 21.25 and the highest score of 40.

Sachin Tendulkar had played in five world cups before winning the T20I one in 2007. The 2011 World Cup was Sachin's last where Dhoni led the team to a World Cup victory, fulfilling Tendulkar's dream to win the coveted ODI trophy.