Ex-CSK Player Sam Billings Spills Beans On MS Dhoni's 'Shisha' Set Up In IPL Hotel Rooms, Reveals ‘He Had Little Shisha Man’

England batter and former Chennai Super Kings (CSK) wicketkeeper-batter Sam Billings has lifted the lid on the hot topic of whether legendary wicketkeeper-batter MS Dhoni indulge in Shisha (or Hookah) occasionally after the former India captain’s video of enjoying a Shisha surfaced after the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024 went viral on social media.

Billings made some startling claims that Dhoni employed a ‘Shisha Man’ for his hotel rooms during the cash-rich league, and the employee’s only job was to take care of it. England batter was part of the CSK squad in IPL 2018 and 19 seasons, featuring in 11 matches for 108 runs.

On a Stick to Cricket show, the host questioned Billing about the best franchise cricketer he had played and the English player took the name of MS Dhoni.

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“Dhoni. Has to be… I think just in terms of his captaincy, his aura. He’s fantastic. In terms of just so incredibly calm. And he’s genuinely cool. You don’t meet many cool people nowadays, really. What a lovely guy, considering how much stardom he has and how much of a superstar,” Billings said on the podcast.

Billing described Dhoni as a ‘genuinely cool’ man and revealed the two players bonded over their shared love for the football club Manchester United.

“Obviously, a Man United fan, like myself. And so we’d watch every Man United game. He can’t leave the hotel, can’t go downstairs to the hotel bar, and he’d get a load of the lads. His room is open, and he has a little ‘Shisha man’ who looks after the Shisha. His sole job is to look after the Shisha,” he added.

The conversation soon turned to India’s veteran batter Virat Kohli. Billing recalled an ODI between India and England in 2017, where the former India captain gave fiery send-offs.

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“Played against him. He gave me a couple of send-offs. The passion… yeah, I got bowled out in Kanpur by Yuzvendra Chahal. Yorked myself, round the wicket. Virat, I remember, was at mid-wicket. He took a massive turn just to scream in my face. I was like, ‘Why are you wasting your time with me?’ All the great players have something special, and if you can’t quite put a finger on one aspect in particular,” he added.