When 'outside biryani not allowed' rule angered MS Dhoni so CSK changed hotel overnight

MS Dhoni of Chennai Super Kings during match 13 of the Indian Premier League season 17 (IPL 2024) between Delhi Capitals and Chennai Super Kings held at the Dr YS Rajasekhara Reddy ACA-VDCA Cricket Stadium, Visakhapatnam on the 31st March 2024. (Sportzpics)

Even Mahendra Singh Dhoni, who has earned a reputation for himself as one of the calmest cricketers in the world, can lose his cool. Especially when it comes to homecooked biryani. No, this is not a copywriter’s pitch for an advertisement featuring a restaurant or an instant food delivery app. This apparently happened in 2014 when the Chennai Super Kings were in Hyderabad for a Champions League T20 game against the Kolkata Knight Riders.

If news reports from back then are to be believed, Dhoni was so miffed at a hotel’s “no outside food allowed” policy that the Chennai Super Kings team moved out of the ITC Grand Kakatiya hotel to the Taj Krishna. The former India captain’s anger rose from the fact that Ambati Rayudu had sent homecooked biryani for the CSK players. Reports suggested that the hotel had initially prohibited players from carrying the biryani to their rooms. Other reports said that the hotel had allowed players to take the biryani to their rooms, but had asked the players to refrain from consuming it in the common premises.

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