Ex-BCCI Selector Reveals 'Two Major Turning Points' In MS Dhoni's Career
MS Dhoni's ex-teammate Saba Karim recently remembered the time when 'Thala' used to play in India's most prestigious domestic tournament - Ranji Trophy - for the state of Bihar, and lacked footwork.
MS Dhoni news: Two-time World Cup winning skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni, only captain of the Indian cricket team to win all ICC white-ball trophies, is arguably the greatest captain that Indian cricket has ever seen. One of the best wicketkeeper batters in the history of the sport, Dhoni ended up scoring over 17,000 runs by the end of his career and even after his retirement, the veteran continues to lead Chennai Super Kings in the Indian Premier League (IPL).
Meanwhile, MS Dhoni's ex-teammate Saba Karim recently remembered the time when the former used to play in India's most prestigious domestic tournament - Ranji Trophy - for the state of Bihar, and was lacking footwork. Karim said that he gave MS Dhoni some advice regarding his footwork which helped him improve, enhance his game and this turned out to be the turning point of his career.
"My story is very interesting. The first time I saw MS Dhoni, it was his second year in the Ranji Trophy. He used to play for Bihar. I saw him batting and keeping, and I still remember while he was batting, he had that brilliance which we even saw later, playing big lofted shots to a spinner or a pace bowler. Even for wicket-keeping, the footwork that one should have was lacking a bit. We worked with him on this at that time, and he still remembered what he was taught then. When we used to chat, he used to speak about it. It was a turning point in MS's career where he actually got going. In one-dayers, we started to let him open because his batting was so strong and he used to get quick runs," said Saba Karim on JioCinema.
Karim said that the second turning point of MS Dhoni's career was when he rose to fame with his all-round performance in the tri-series between India A and Pakistan A and Kenya in 2003.
"The second turning point was the tri-series in Kenya between India 'A', Pakistan 'A', and Kenya. MS Dhoni got an opportunity to play because Dinesh Karthik was joining the national team. There, MS kept the wickets well and for batting don't even ask! We played against Pak 'A' twice and he batted so well in the series," the former keeper said.
"From there it was a turning point in his career and after that, his name was in the reckuning. I even remember I was in Calcutta at that time, and Sourav (Ganguly) was the captain. I went to meet him and I told him there is this keeper who should come into the Indian team because he was batting so well and was such a safe keeper. Unfortunately, Sourav hadn't seen MS play just before we toured Pakistan, and he wasn't selected for that tour. But he was after that," he added.
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