After the Champions Trophy is over, it is now the turn of the IPL. Its 18th season will start from 22 March. Along with this, a tremendous rivalry will also be seen between 10 teams of the tournament and their fans. Meanwhile, Rajasthan Royals captain Sanju Samson has revealed that there was a time when he wanted to defeat Chennai Super Kings. But behind this, there was no rivalry but his idol Mahendra Singh Dhoni. Actually, Samson wanted to meet Dhoni in private.

Had to wait for 8 years

Sanju Samson has revealed in a conversation with Star Sports that he had to wait for 8 years to meet Dhoni.

He was able to meet him after 8 seasons of IPL debut. During this time, he wanted him to beat the Chennai team once so that he could get a chance to meet Dhoni alone. Samson said, 'Like every young Indian cricketer, I also wanted to live around Dhoni. Whenever we used to play against CSK, I wanted to sit and talk with him, asked him how he works. This was a dream for me. But every time 10 people used to stand around him. Then felt that his team would have to win a match against Chennai Super Kings, only then they would get a chance to go to him.

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Samson further explained that 'I once won my team against CSK in Sharjah and made man of the match. After that, I met Mahi Bhai and since then our relationship has deepened. Sanju Samson recently met Dhoni for an IPL add shoot. Regarding this, Samson said that he is living his dream. Those who used to see as Idols, sitting with them today and shooting ad is nothing short of blessings. Earlier, both of them were seen together during an event. Then there was a lot of laughter between the two.

When is the match of both teams?

In IPL 2025, both teams will start their journey on 23 March. On this day, the Rajasthan Royals team will play their first match against Sunrisers Hyderabad. At the same time, Chennai Super Kings will face the first confrontation with Mumbai Indians, while the first match of Chennai and Rajasthan will be played on 30 March.