"It does not matter if he is sleeping" - Former CSK player Thisara Perera shares a unique trait about captain MS Dhoni [Exclusive]

Sri Lankan Lions captain Thisara Perera recalled the time when he played for Chennai Super Kings (CSK) under MS Dhoni's captaincy. CSK was the first team to sign Perera when he was just 20 years old in 2010.

In an exclusive interview with Sportskeeda on the sidelines of Asian Legends League 2025, Thisara Perera looked back at his IPL career. He got an opportunity to play under MS Dhoni in two seasons - one in 2010 for CSK and then for Rising Pune Supergiant in 2016.

When asked to share some things from his IPL days under Dhoni, Perera said:

"One thing I would like to say that Mahi always keeps his room door open. It does not matter if he is sleeping. His room's door is open. I was staying opposite to his room, so I could see. There was just a double lock. I saw everyone is coming and going. He is a really good human being and good captain."

CSK won the IPL trophy in 2010 when Perera was a part of the team. Perera said that the experience with CSK helped him improve a lot as a cricketer.

"This is the first and last" - Thisara Perera reveals what MS Dhoni told in CSK's team meeting

As mentioned earlier, CSK became the IPL champions in 2010. While some fans may think that captain MS Dhoni would have conducted special team meetings to discuss plans for every opponent, Thisara Perera made a starting revelation and said:

"Dhoni's character is different. When I went to Chennai Super Kings for the first time, there was a meeting on the first day. He said, 'You guys are very well prepared. That's why we selected you guys. So we don't need any meeting. This is the first and last.' He said like that."

"When I came to IPL, I thought there will be meetings every day, but in CSK, there was not any big team meeting. It changed the cricket culture of my life," Perera concluded.

Perera is currently captaining the Sri Lankan Lions in Asian Legends League. It will be interesting to see if he can lead SLL to the trophy just like MS Dhoni did it for CSK in IPL 2010.