Sam Billings, the former Chennai Super Kings player, had awarded legendary wicketkeeper-batter MS Dhoni a great accolade prior to the Indian premier league of 2026, saying that he is the best player he has ever played with in the league. CSK player Billings (2018 and 2019) highlighted that Dhoni was a great leader and no one could stay calm in challenging circumstances.
CSK is one of the most successful franchises in the history of IPL with 5 titles and is playing at the peak level under the guidance of MS Dhoni as their coach. The other off-field experience about Dhoni, which was also posted by the English cricketer is that Dhoni is a fan of Manchester United.
Billings stated that the two used to be together a lot when they were in the IPL watching football matches. He added another fun fact as well, saying that Dhoni had even a shisha set-up in his room. Dhoni has been with CSK since the beginning of its formation and is scheduled to play the IPL 2026 season as its player.
“In terms of his captaincy, so incredibly calm. He is genuinely cool. There’s not many cool people. You don’t meet many cool people these days. He is a lovely guy, considering what stardom he has and being a superstar,” Billings said on ‘Stick to Cricket’.
“He is a Manchester United fan. We watched every United game because you cant leave the hotel and go downstairs to the hotel bar. He leaves his hotel room open. He has a little shisha man who looks after the shisha,” he added.
Billings also recalled a heated on-field incident involving Virat Kohli, the former captain of Royal Challengers Bengaluru. He described how Kohli went above and beyond to give him a violent send-off during a game. Billings has scored 503 runs in 30 IPL games for three different teams.
“Played against him. He gave me a couple of send-offs. The passion he has. I remember I was walking off that way. Virat was at mid-wicket, I think, and he just did a massive loop just to scream at my face, and I was like why are you wasting your time on me? All the great players have got something special and an aura,” said Billings.
