Rahul Dravid Once Scolded MS Dhoni For Getting Out After Playing A Bad Shot, He Then Started Taking Responsibility - Virender Sehwag

Former India opener Virender Sehwag recalled an interesting incident involving Rahul Dravid and MS Dhoni which “transformed” the latter.

Dhoni burst onto the scene in 2005 and took the T20I captaincy in 2007 with Dravid still as the Test and ODI skipper. He started off as an aggressive batsman having the capability to muscle away any bowler.

However, on one occasion the right-hander got out to a rash shot, and as Virender Sehwag recalls, he was given a stern scolding by Dravid. Sehwag believes that rebuke from Dravid had a big effect on Dhoni and then he “started taking responsibility”.

“He was given the finisher’s role under Dravid, who once scolded him for getting out after playing a bad shot. I think that incident changed him. So around 2006-07, he transformed and started taking responsibility of finishing matches,” Virender Sehwag was quoted as saying by India TV.

If Ganguly hadn’t sacrificed his position, Dhoni might not have become such a big player: Virender Sehwag

Virender Sehwag also lauded former captain Sourav Ganguly for sacrificing his demoting himself in the batting order for Dhoni to bat at number 3 and Dhoni cashed on the opportunity. Ganguly had earlier done the same for Sehwag by giving him his opening spot.

“Those days (2005) we were experimenting with pinch-hitters. Dada (Ganguly) had planned that Dhoni would get 3-4 chances at No. 3. If it works then fine, otherwise they would try someone else. Very few captains do it. He first sacrificed his (opening) spot for me and then he gave his slot to Dhoni. If Dada had not done that, Dhoni might not have become such a big player,” the 43-year-old stated.

Speaking about MS Dhoni, the Chennai Super Kings captain has confirmed that he will play in IPL 2022 for CSK. He led CSK to their fourth IPL title earlier this year in the UAE.

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