‘We Have This Chabuk New Batsman: Joy Bhattacharya Recalls What Sourav Ganguly Had Told Him About MS Dhoni During The Latters Maiden Series
Published - 21 Jul 2020, 03:22 PM | Updated - 23 Aug 2024, 12:32 AM
Joy Bhattacharya, former Kolkata Knight Riders director, revealed former captain Sourav Ganguly had described MS Dhoni as a ‘chabuk batsman’ in the latters maiden ODI series against Bangladesh back in 2004.
Sourav Ganguly was brilliant in talent spotting. And, just like he knew that the likes of Virender Sehwag, Yuvraj Singh, Harbhajan Singh, Zaheer Khan are match-winners, he had spotted the same in Dhoni when he made his debut against Bangladesh following a brilliant series against Pakistan and Kenya A for India A.
“I remember being on a flight to Bangladesh in 2004 and Sourav was just telling me ‘we have this chabuk new batsman’. ‘Chabuk’ means whipped. He said ‘chabuk new batsman’ who has come out. You have to see him, MS Dhoni is going to be a star,’” said Joy Bhattacharya on 22 yarns podcast of Oaktree Sprorts hosted by Gaurav Kapur.
“If you have the talent, he would back you”- Joy Bhattacharya on Sourav Ganguly
MS Dhoni did not have the best of starts in his debut series. He was dismissed for a duck in his maiden innings and could not contribute much in the next two games either. But that was the thing about Ganguly. Once he saw talent in someone, he backed him to the hilt. And, he did exactly the same with MS Dhoni.
He promoted Dhoni to the No.3 spot in the succeeding ODI series against Pakistan at Vizag where the wicket-keeper went on to smash a whirlwind 148 and the rest, as they say, is history.
“One thing he was just fantastic at was that he would just see you and he would know the talent. If you have the talent, he would back you. It didn’t mean that you could not get runs, you could fail, it didn’t matter to him. Because he knew on the day you had the ability to score,” Joy Bhattacharya went on to add.
