To join India’s team, the famous captain MS Dhoni had to put in a lot of work. Before making his debut in 2004, the stumper-batter was not given much consideration for national selection despite performing well on the domestic circuit. His debut against Bangladesh was a failure, and the rough patch persisted for the first few games.
However, in his sixth ODI, captain Sourav Ganguly sent him to bat at number three against Pakistan, and he scored 148 runs, which ultimately helped to determine his future career. As a staff player named S Sreesanth, he met Dhoni while playing his fourth ODI in Kochi. The player told him that he is not being able to express himself adequately and not being able to contribute much in his first few games, according to the former India pacer, who recently revealed the anecdote.
“Dhoni bhai visited us (support players) and spoke with us. I haven’t mentioned this incident elsewhere. I want to express myself, Dhoni bhai added as we were still standing there. I don’t have the opportunity to express myself. I was joined by another Keralan player. We were conversing with Dhoni. We even made a joke about joining the team in a year or two, Dhoni bhai. Yes, definitely, he replied with a smile. Exactly why not.
Simply keep working hard, S Sreesanth advised, according to NDTV.
“At the dinner party, we only engaged in light conversation. Don’t worry, I reassured him. I have a feeling you’ll play well and quickly succeed. I have a habit of encouraging the players who are warming up. You won’t believe it, but in his subsequent game, he scored a hundred points,” Sreesanth continued.
The pair continued to play together for the following several years, and they even helped their country win the T20 World Cup in 2007 and the ODI World Cup in 2011. In the end, Sreesanth described MS Dhoni trip as wild and said he would include all of these incidents in his memoirs.
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