MS Dhoni Urges Aspiring Cricketers To Focus On District Cricket
Published - 03 Jun 2022, 03:27 PM | Updated - 23 Aug 2024, 12:08 AM
Chennai Super Kings captain MS Dhoni on Wednesday attended an event in Chennai to celebrate the silver jubilee (25 years) of Thiruvallur District Cricket Association (TDCA).
Dhoni was joined by former BCCI president N. Srinivasan at the ceremony, where 10 sports persons received scholarships worth INR 3 lakh (30,000 to each individual). Dhoni presented the medals and cheques to the aspiring sports persons.
What is very important is to be proud of the district that you represent: MS Dhoni
During his speech at the event, the former Indian skipper stressed the importance of playing district level cricket and shared his own experience with the youngsters.
“Initially when I started playing cricket, the want, or the will was to score in that tournament. Why? Because you could represent your district. Why do you want to represent your district? So when you play an inter-district tournament and you do well, and you are called for the selection trials for the state,” Dhoni said during the event.
“And, I feel that is the urge that all you (young) cricketers need to have. And, what is very important is to be proud of the district that you represent, because when we start playing cricket, you want to play for school and do well for the school. But ultimately, you want to get selected for the district team. From the district, you want to do well and get selected for the state. Then, you want to compete at the Ranji Trophy level and ultimately, you want to represent India,” Dhoni further mentioned.
Always felt for me grassroots cricket was school-level cricket: MS Dhoni
Dhoni expressed his gratitude to his district cricket association and talked about strengthening grass-root level cricket.
“We are celebrating the success of a district cricket association. So, a lot of that I will speak about is to thank my district cricket association back home. When we talk about the grassroots-level of cricket, what you really need is cricket from where it starts, and where it is governed,” said Dhoni.
“And, I always felt for me grassroots cricket was school-level cricket, because it is a place where you want students to play all the different sports, but at the same time the responsibility comes to the district cricket association to organise a cricket tournament where all the schools of the district, they make sure that it is prestigious enough to compete,” he added.
Dhoni recently played for CSK in IPL 2022, scoring 232 runs in 13 innings at 33.14 with one half-century. The four-time IPL winners finished ninth on the table with just four wins this season.
Also Read: IPL 2022: CSK Leg-spinner Prashant Solanki Reveals How MS Dhoni’s Advice Helped Him Succeed
