Virender Sehwag Reveals The Sacrifice Made By Sourav Ganguly Which Made MS Dhoni A Great Player
Updated - 27 May 2019, 01:42 PM
Former India opener Virender Sehwag has revealed how Mahendra Singh Dhoni‘s predecessors Rahul Dravid and Sourav Ganguly played a part in his transformation as a player. While speaking to a television channel, Sehwag recalled how Ganguly’s decision to sacrifice his own batting position helped Dhoni to evolve as a batsman. Sehwag went on to say that Dhoni would not have become a great player had Ganguly not taken the inspired decision.
“We were experimenting with the batting order at that time. We decided that if we get a good opening partnership then Sourav Ganguly would come at No.3 but if we had a bad opening stand then we would send pinch hitters like Irfan Pathan or Dhoni to accelerate the scoring rate,” Sehwag recalled.
“Ganguly at that time decided to give Dhoni a chance at No.3 for three or four matches. There are very few captains who would first give away his own batting spot for Virender Sehwag and then his set spot of No.3 for Dhoni. Had Dada (Ganguly) not done that, Dhoni would not have become such a great player. Ganguly always believed in giving chances to new players,” Sehwag added.
Sehwag further said explained Rahul Dravid’s role in making Dhoni a complete cricketer and a perfect finisher.
“During Rahul Dravid’s captaincy, Dhoni got the role of a finisher. He got out a couple of times playing a bad shot and he was also reprimanded by Dravid during one instance. But from that instance, he completely changed his approach and became a very good finisher. The kind of partnerships he had with Yuvraj Singh are memorable,” Sehwag said.
Well, the sacrifices and the reprimands eventually paid off as Dhoni became one of the batting mainstays of the team soon after making his debut in 2004. In fact, he became the top-ranked ODI batsman in only his 42nd match. Currently, he is India’s fourth highest run-getter in ODIs.
Dhoni also went on to become the most decorated captain of India, leading the team to all the top prizes in all formats: the No.1 Test ranking for the first time, the 50-over World Cup in 2011, the World Twenty20 and the Champions Trophy.