'MS Dhoni was a very shy guy, he never used to come to our rooms', recalls Harbhajan Singh

Chennai Super Kings star spinner Harbhajan Singh recently spoke about how MS Dhoni was initially a very shy person and only started opening up post the 2008 series against Australia.

In an Instagram Live session organised by Chennai Super Kings and Rupha Ramani, the off-spinner shared an interesting storyline of how MS Dhoni was initially very reserved as a player and captain.

"MS Dhoni was a very shy guy, he never used to come into our rooms, he would just be in his room. Sachin Paaji, Yuvraj (Singh), Zaheer (Khan), Ashish (Nehra) all of us would hang out together. MS was a very quiet guy," said Harbhajan.

Harbhajan then turned the clock back to reminisce the Test series against Australia in 2008, famously known for the Monkeygate scandal and the umpiring howlers that were criticised throughout the series.

The CSK spinner shed light on how that particular series helped the team bond a lot more, and in specific, led to MS Dhoni opening up a lot more to his teammates.

"After the Test against Australia in 2008 where a lot of fights happened, everyone came together. From that time on, he (MS Dhoni) started opening up a bit and started sitting with us. He was a young guy in the team, he was the captain as well, but even then he was shy. He would give suggestions for field setting but left the final decision to us. He would tell us we knew what to do," Harbhajan added.

"MS Dhoni gives his teammates the room to explore"

MS Dhoni had earlier led India to the 2007 T20 World Cup triumph before he took over as the Indian Test team captain in 2008. A year later, in December, India climbed to the No.1 rank in the longest format, highlighting MS Dhoni's credentials as a captain.

Since then, MS Dhoni has only risen in popularity with every year, having led India to the 2011 World Cup triumph and a title victory in the 2013 Champions Trophy. Apart from tasting unparalleled success in the international circuit, MS Dhoni has also led CSK to three IPL titles.

Harbhajan also made mention of how MS Dhoni's method of giving some space to his teammates is one of the CSK skipper's most striking features as captain.

"A guy like Deepak Chahar, who has done well for CSK, he gave him all the freedom and everything possible as captain to go out there and explore himself. That's probably something people should learn from him. Giving space to a bowler or a batsman is very important so that they can explore," the CSK off-spinner added.