'I feel like I’m living my dream' - Sanju Samson on his bond with MS Dhoni

Sanju Samson recently described his fondness for MS Dhoni and how his bond with the legendary wicketkeeper-batter has grown over the years. The two revered cricketers will be in action during the 18th edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL), which gets underway on Saturday, March 22.

Samson said that he wanted to spend as much time as he could around Dhoni whenever their respective teams squared off in the IPL. The Kerala wicketkeeper-batter recalled that their bond grew after he scored a match-winning half-century against Chennai Super Kings (CSK).

"Like every young Indian cricketer, I always wanted to be around MS Dhoni. Every time we played against CSK, I wanted to sit and talk to him, ask him how he does things. It was a dream for me. I remember playing a match against CSK in Sharjah, where I finally performed well, scored around 70-80 runs, won the game, and became the Man of the Match. After that, I met Mahi bhai, and since then, our relationship has grown," Samson said in an interview on JioHotstar.

"Even now, I meet him often. Just yesterday, I met him again. It’s truly a blessed feeling, to go from idolizing him to now sitting with him for shoots and events. I feel like I’m living my dream," he added.

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Samson and Dhoni were recently seen together in one of IPL's promotional ads, talking about Rajasthan Royals' 13-year-old batting prodigy Vaibhav Suryavanshi. Rajasthan and Chennai are set to lock horns on March 30 at the Barsapara Stadium in Guwahati, which will be hosting the first two home games of the inaugural champions.

The Royals were knocked out in Qualifier 2 last year by Sunrisers Hyderabad. Meanwhile, the Ruturaj Gaikwad-led Super Kings narrowly missed out on a playoffs berth as they finished fifth on the points table at the end of the league phase.