{"id":38035,"date":"2020-08-18T06:41:54","date_gmt":"2020-08-18T06:41:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/indiansportsnews.co.in\/?p=38035"},"modified":"2020-08-18T06:41:54","modified_gmt":"2020-08-18T06:41:54","slug":"ms-dhoni-was-so-good-with-the-ball-at-his-feet-recollects-jeje-lalpekhlua","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/indiansportsnews.co.in\/?p=38035","title":{"rendered":"MS Dhoni was so good with the ball at his feet, recollects Jeje Lalpekhlua"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"JejeAIFF Media Team<\/strong><\/p>\n

NEW DELHI:<\/strong> Indian National Team striker Jeje Lalpekhlua, who has been an integral part of Chennaiyin FC in the Hero Indian Super League remembers former Indian National Cricket captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni as \u201cbeing quite good at football.\u201d<\/p>\n

A day after \u2018Captain Cool\u2019 announced his International retirement, Jeje preferred to take a trip down memory lane to speak about the training sessions where \u2018Thala\u2019 Dhoni would join them for a training session.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe just loves to play football. If he is around, whenever we\u2019re playing a small-sided game during training, he\u2019d always try to join us,\u201d said Jeje with a smile. \u201cOf course, he\u2019s played football when he was a kid and you can gauge how much he still enjoys playing even now,\u201d Jeje stated. \u201cHe was always so good with the ball at his feet.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cHe may have been a goalkeeper back in school. But when he\u2019s playing, it has bene evident that his skills with his feet have not left him. He\u2019s quite good at football, to be honest,\u201d Jeje continued.<\/p>\n

In fact, the 39-year-old has been so helpful that even offered tips to players whenever he was around to heal with injuries \u201cIn one of the Hero ISL matches I suffered a cramp and had to limp out. After the match he came down to me and mentioned \u201cabout some of his teammates in the cricket team who also suffered from cramps, and ways they dealt with it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Midfield general Anirudh Thapa, another Chennaiyin FC player, highlighted Dhoni\u2019s talks where \u201che always shared his experiences.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cHe used to come whenever we had a team lunch. He stayed back to talk to the boys and share about his learnings. He\u2019s a very down to earth guy,\u201d Thapa maintained. \u201cThere were others who also asked him to come and sit with them, but instead he always preferred to sit with the footballers,\u201d Thapa continued.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019d say: \u2018Let me sit with the boys and let me share some experiences.\u2019 He told us a lot about the struggles he has had to face in his own life, and about his journey in cricket. He’s had such an amazing career over the years. I’d like to wish him a happy retirement.\u201d<\/p>\n

A CITY THAT GOES CRAZY FOR \u2018THALA\u2019<\/p>\n

Another latest addition to the Chennaiyin FC squad, who is a huge fan of MS Dhoni is local boy Edwin Sydney Vanspaul. The 27-year-old described how the city lives and breathes every moment that Dhoni is in Chennai.<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople here are just crazy about him. They may have jobs, and other responsibilities with their family, but if MSD is in town and Chennai Super Kings have a training session, they would all head to the stadium, just to watch them practice,\u201d laughed Edwin. \u201cAnd when MSD comes out to bat in the nets, these guys just go bonkers. It\u2019s like when Cristiano Ronaldo goes for a training session in Portugal or Spain.\u201d<\/p>\n

Although Dhoni himself hails from Ranchi, the city of Chennai was very quick to adopt the star cricketer and make him one of their own. They even gave him the title of Thala (Head), something that does not come so easily for a sportsperson.<\/p>\n

\u201cGenerally these titles are given to film stars. Ajith Kumar is also called Thala here. But for Dhoni, it did not take long for him to earn that title,\u201d explained Edwin. \u201cPerhaps it is because he mingled with the local culture here so easily. He even speaks a little Tamil. It\u2019s these little gestures and small efforts that the people of this city appreciate, and that is why they shower him with so much love.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\"JejeAIFF Media Team<\/strong><\/p>\n

NEW DELHI:<\/strong> Indian National Team striker Jeje Lalpekhlua, who has been an integral part of Chennaiyin FC in the Hero Indian Super League remembers former Indian National Cricket captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni as \u201cbeing quite good at football.\u201d<\/p>\n

A day after \u2018Captain Cool\u2019 announced his International retirement, Jeje preferred to take a trip down memory lane to speak about the training sessions where \u2018Thala\u2019 Dhoni would join them for a training session.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe just loves to play football. If he is around, whenever we\u2019re playing a small-sided game during training, he\u2019d always try to join us,\u201d said Jeje with a smile. \u201cOf course, he\u2019s played football when he was a kid and you can gauge how much he still enjoys playing even now,\u201d Jeje stated. \u201cHe was always so good with the ball at his feet.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":38034,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[82],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-38035","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-football-football"],"yoast_head":"\nMS Dhoni was so good with the ball at his feet, recollects Jeje Lalpekhlua - IndianSportsNews.com - Latest Updated Sports News & Sports Blogs of Cricket, Hockey, Golf, Football, Tennis & Other Sports<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/indiansportsnews.co.in\/?p=38035\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"MS Dhoni was so good with the ball at his feet, recollects Jeje Lalpekhlua - IndianSportsNews.com - Latest Updated Sports News & Sports Blogs of Cricket, Hockey, Golf, Football, Tennis & Other Sports\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"AIFF Media Team NEW DELHI: Indian National Team striker Jeje Lalpekhlua, who has been an integral part of Chennaiyin FC in the Hero Indian Super League remembers former Indian National Cricket captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni as \u201cbeing quite good at football.\u201d A day after \u2018Captain Cool\u2019 announced his International retirement, Jeje preferred to take a trip down memory lane to speak about the training sessions where \u2018Thala\u2019 Dhoni would join them for a training session. \u201cHe just loves to play football. If he is around, whenever we\u2019re playing a small-sided game during training, he\u2019d always try to join us,\u201d said Jeje with a smile. \u201cOf course, he\u2019s played football when he was a kid and you can gauge how much he still enjoys playing even now,\u201d Jeje stated. \u201cHe was always so good with the ball at his feet.\u201d\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/indiansportsnews.co.in\/?p=38035\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"IndianSportsNews.com - Latest Updated Sports News & Sports Blogs of Cricket, Hockey, Golf, Football, Tennis & Other Sports\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2020-08-18T06:41:54+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/indiansportsnews.co.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/Jeje-Dhoni.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"800\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"500\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/indiansportsnews.co.in\\\/?p=38035#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/indiansportsnews.co.in\\\/?p=38035\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/indiansportsnews.co.in\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/b8f51f3c66686ab3518464e9b8368646\"},\"headline\":\"MS Dhoni was so good with the ball at his feet, recollects Jeje Lalpekhlua\",\"datePublished\":\"2020-08-18T06:41:54+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/indiansportsnews.co.in\\\/?p=38035\"},\"wordCount\":636,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/indiansportsnews.co.in\\\/?p=38035#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/indiansportsnews.co.in\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2020\\\/08\\\/Jeje-Dhoni.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Football\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/indiansportsnews.co.in\\\/?p=38035#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/indiansportsnews.co.in\\\/?p=38035\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/indiansportsnews.co.in\\\/?p=38035\",\"name\":\"MS Dhoni was so good with the ball at his feet, recollects Jeje Lalpekhlua - 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