Former BCCI chairman of the selection committee Saba Karim walked down memory lane and revealed when he first saw Mahendra Singh Dhoni who is regarded as one of the most important figures in Indian cricket history. MS Dhoni is the only captain in cricket history to win all three ICC trophies in limited overs format – T20 World Cup in 2007, ODI WC in 2011 and the Champions Trophy in 2013. However, it was not an easy ride for the MSD as he worked hard and waited for his opportunity to make it to the Indian team.
Karim recalled the moment he first saw Dhoni and revealed that the wicketkeeper batter was playing for Bihar in Ranji Trophy when he witnessed his tremendous batting skillset.
“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.
Dhoni etched his name in Indian cricket history as only the second captain to lead India to ICC ODI World Cup triumph. He has also been regarded as one of the best finishers and the 38-year-old also managed to display it once again during IPL 2023.
Karim, the former wicketkeeper, also named the second turning point in Dhoni’s career according to him.
“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.”
Karim recalled that after the tri-series with India A team, Dhoni made a strong case for himself to get the senior team call-up and also had a word with then captain Sourav Ganguly to pick him.
“From there it was a turning point in his career and after that, his name was in the reckoning. 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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