Langer saw a lot of Dhoni jerseys both at home and away during LSG’s matches against Chennai Super Kings (CSK). At Lucknow’s Ekana Stadium, which has a capacity of 50,000, he estimated that around 48,000 fans were wearing the No. 7 Dhoni jersey. That number went up to 100% when he visited Chennai.
While speaking on BBC Sports, Justin Langer said, “It’s extraordinary. I first heard about it; then we played them (CSK) twice. They came to Lucknow, and our ground (Ekana Stadium) has a seating capacity of about 50,000 fans, and honestly, there must have been 48,000 MS Dhoni number seven shirts there. I couldn’t believe it, and then we went to Chepauk, and there was 98% no crowd; and it’s unbelievable.”
Langer expressed disbelief at the love the star cricketer is receiving and compared it to the adulation Sachin Tendulkar and Virat Kohli have received in the past. Langer concluded by saying, “And I also saw the other side of it because Rohit Sharma as captain of India is a huge hero in India. And what happened with Mumbai Indians this year… Hardik Pandya took over the captaincy from Rohit Sharma.
But nobody supported Hardik and it was really sad to see. You know, he is the vice-captain of the Indian T20 team. I have seen both sides of it, having been to IPL before, instead of getting upset about it, go with the flow.