MS Dhoni's Arrival Shifted The Power Balance In Indian Cricket: Kris Srikkanth

Former captain MS Dhoni came as a breath of fresh air in Indian cricket. After ‘Haryana Hurricane’ Kapil Dev, MS Dhoni was the first cricketer who emerged from a small town and went on to become one of the shining lights of world cricket. Dhoni’s success, much like Kapil Dev’s success in the 1980s, gave wings to a plethora of small town cricketers to possibly dream of one day representing the country at the top-level.

Former Indian swashbuckling opener and the erstwhile chairman of selectors Kris Srikkanth feels that the arrival of MS Dhoni in the Indian cricket team in the winter of 2004 shifted the balance of power in Indian cricket. Dhoni did not have the best of debuts in International cricket. He was run-out for a duck in his very first game for a golden duck but Srikkant feels that the 148 he stroked against Pakistan in the 2005 ODI series in Vizag gave him the confidence that he has what it takes to become a cricketer that he eventually became.

“When someone like Dhoni arrived on the national side, the powers of Indian cricket began to change, a cricketer from Ranchi was a master stroke, a picker from area was looking at cricket to the east and he saw something really special to Dhoni. He didn’t do anything substantial in his first two games and people struck him out. But he played 140 odd shots against Pakistan and that made Dhoni really confident. ” Kris Srikkanth, 1983 World Cup winner told Asian News International (ANI).

Also Read: Sourav Ganguly’s Masterstroke Of Promoting MS Dhoni At No. 3 That Changed Indian Cricket Forever

MS Dhoni’s success paved the way for small-town cricketers- Kris Srikkanth

Srikkanth said post the success of Dhoni, Indian cricket saw a plethora of small-town cricketers make the cut at the International level. He also said the baton from Dhoni to Virat Kohli was passed in a right way.

“After the Dhoni era, we saw a lot of players from small towns making the cut. This legacy will be very huge and it is a testament to Dhoni. The team was transferred in the right way to Virat”, he added.

Meanwhile, MS Dhoni was supposed to make his comeback to competitive cricket but the same has been delayed courtesy the postponement of the IPL thanks to the proliferation of COVID-19 pandemic.

Also Read: Akash Chopra Compares Sourav Ganguly And MS Dhoni Era In An Interaction With Ramiz Raja