Former India batter Ajinkya Rahane recently shared an interesting story about the dressing-room culture under legendary skipper MS Dhoni. Speaking on the Overlap Cricket YouTube channel, Rahane revealed that players were free to visit Dhoni's hotel room during tours, but everyone respected one rule.
Rahane announced his retirement from all forms of international and domestic cricket through an Instagram video. The 38-year-old brought the curtain down on a career spanning nearly two decades. Dhoni's playing future remains uncertain after he missed the entire IPL 2026 season because of a leg injury.
Ajinkya Rahane Reveals the One Rule Everyone Followed in MS Dhoni's Room
Ajinkya Rahane made his international debut in all three formats under former India captain MS Dhoni. The two also shared the dressing room at Chennai Super Kings in the 2023 and 2024 IPL seasons, besides playing together for Rising Pune Supergiant.
Rahane recalled Dhoni's calm and approachable nature. He said that Dhoni's hotel room was a regular meeting place for teammates during tours, where players relaxed, chatted and spent time together.
"He's (MS Dhoni) very calm and cool and just a very normal human being like everyone. His room was almost always open for anyone to do anything. So many times, 10 to 15 of them or even the whole team was in his room. But when his door was shut, no one was allowed," Rahane said on the Overlap Cricket YouTube channel.
Ajinkya Rahane Retires as MS Dhoni's IPL Future Remains Uncertain
Ajinkya Rahane recently announced his retirement from all forms of international and domestic cricket through an emotional Instagram video. The 38-year-old said he felt it was the right time to step down from Indian cricket.
The right-handed batter represented India in 85 Tests, 90 ODIs and 20 T20Is between 2011 and 2023. He scored 5,077 runs in Test cricket, including 12 centuries and 26 fifties, while adding 2,962 runs in ODIs and 375 runs in T20Is.
Meanwhile, MS Dhoni's future as a player remains unclear. The former India captain missed the entire IPL 2026 season because of a leg injury, and Chennai Super Kings are yet to confirm whether the 44-year-old will return for the next edition.
Ben Stokes' Advice Changed Ajinkya Rahane's Social Media Habits
Ajinkya Rahane also spoke about how he stayed mentally fresh during long tours. He revealed that he developed the habit of deleting all his social media apps during a series after England all-rounder Ben Stokes advised him to stay away from social media when they played together in the IPL in 2017.
"I delete all the social media apps when the series is on. But no one advises us to, and that's just my own advice to myself. I remember Ben Stokes advising me not to see social media in 2017 when we played together in the IPL."
"Creating a routine helped me individually deal with this once I am in my room. Just things like watching something on Netflix or some other app, reading a book, chatting to family, and ironing my clothes for the next day."
