New Delhi: MS Dhoni’s emergence to the Indian cricket team forced a change towards the mentality of how the ODI game should be played. The former Indian skipper quickly stamped his authority after making his debut in 2004 and the rest is history. However, few know that it was Kiran More, the then chief selector of the India and his team also played their part discovering such a generational talent. Recently, he recalled that time opening up about his experience of witnessing Dhoni’s prowess in the domestic circuit where made his name first. According to him, the Men in blue were in desperate need of a good wicket-keeper who could add fire power as well towards the end of the 50 over format.
“We were looking for a wicket-keeper batsman. At that time, the format was changing, and we were looking for a power-hitter, someone who can come at No 6 or 7 and get us quick 40-50 runs” More recalled on a YouTube show, The Curtly and Karishma.
“Rahul Dravid played 75 ODI matches as a wicket-keeper, and he played the 2003 World Cup as well. So, we were desperate for a wicket-keeper,”
It was then when they first came across Dhoni. Back then there weren’t much talented cricketers outside of the metropolitan cities and it was very surprising to see a lad from a small town of Ranchi in Jharkhand making runs at will with such ease in the domestic circuit.
“My colleague saw him first, then I went and saw him. I especially flew down and saw him get 130 runs out of the team’s total of 170. He smashed everyone. We wanted him to play in the finals as a wicket-keeper” he further added.
But it was not easy for the Ranchi lad. More also spoke about how the selection committee and he himself had to convince skipper Sourav Ganguly giving Dhoni a chance in the final of the Duleep Trophy to prove himself.
“That’s when we had a lot of debate with Sourav Ganguly and Deep Dasgupta – who played for India then and who was from Calcutta. So, it took about ten days to convince Sourav and his selector to ask Deep Dasgupta to not keep wickets and to let MS Dhoni keep wickets,” More also added.
Seeing his performances, he was included in the India A squad for a triangular series in Kenya. More mentioned how crucial is hand opportunities to players with such raw talent to flourish and also said how the gambled worked wonders for years to come for the Indian team.
“Dhoni kept wickets, he smashed all the bowlers around and then we sent him to Kenya for the triangular series involving India A, Pakistan A and Kenya. MS scored about 600 runs and after that rest his history. So you need to give chances to a cricketer, who has something special in him, who looks like a match-winner. He had all the attributes. It was only a matter of time before all of them clicked together. We gambled on the right horse and it paid off. I gave credit to all of the members of that selection committee.”
