Former India cricketer Saba Karim recently revealed why MS Dhoni did not tour Pakistan with the national team in 2004 and also recalled the first time he saw the ex-skipper play for Bihar in the domestic cricket.
Dhoni made his India debut in 2004, right after India's historic tour of Pakistan under Sourav Ganguly. But he wasn't picked before as Ganguly hadn't seen him play before.
Karim spoke about how he recommended Dhoni's name to Ganguly and how he helped MSD improve his wicketkeeping before he made his debut for India in 2004.
“The first time I saw MS Dhoni, it was his second year in the Ranji Trophy. He used to play for Bihar. I saw him batting and keeping, and I still remember while he was batting, he had that brilliance which we even saw later, playing big lofted shots to a spinner or a pace bowler. For wicket-keeping, the footwork that one should have was lacking a bit. We worked with him on this at that time, and MS Dhoni's greatness lies in this that he still remembered what he was taught then.
"When we would chat, he'd speak about it. It was a turning point in MS' career where he actually got going. In one-dayers, we started to let him open because his batting was so strong and he used to get quick runs,” he said on JioCinema.
Second turning point in Dhoni's career
“The second turning point was the tri-series in Kenya between India ‘A', Pakistan ‘A', and Kenya. MS Dhoni got an opportunity to play because Dinesh Karthik was joining the national team. There, MS kept the wickets well and for batting don't even ask! We played against Pak ‘A' twice and he batted so well in the series.”
“From there it was a turning point in his career and after that, his name was in the reckoning. I even remember I was in Calcutta at that time, and Sourav (Ganguly) was the captain. I went to meet him and I told him there is this keeper who should come into the Indian team because he was batting so well and was such a safe keeper. Unfortunately, Sourav hadn't seen MS play just before we toured Pakistan, and he wasn't selected for that tour. But he was after that,” he added.
The legend of MS Dhoni
Dhoni went on to play 90 Tests, 350 ODIs and 98 T20Is. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest cricketers India has produced over the years and has a crazy fan-following all over the world.
He remains the only captain in history to hold all three ICC titles - 2007 World T20, 2011 ODI World Cup & 2013 Champions Trophy - apart from other world records in international cricket.
