Former India captain MS Dhoni’s maiden ODI century against Pakistan in Visakhapatnam had made him a household name. This was the first time when the world saw the aggressive side of Dhoni at the highest level. Scoring 300 runs in an innings wasn’t common in 2004, but India were able to score 356/9 due to Dhoni’s masterclass.
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Dhoni amassed 148 (123) with the help of 15 fours and four sixes. He smashed the Pakistani bowlers all over the park and never looked back after that match. It is interesting that Dhoni was not supposed to bat in the top-order in that match but then India captain Sourav Ganguly took a bold call.
Ganguly was famous for investing in youngsters and giving them a long rope. Even former Indian batter Virender Sehwag admitted that it was Ganguly who promoted him to open the batting on the international stage. Sehwag used to bat in the middle-order, but, Ganguly wanted to take full advantage of his potential.
How Sourav Ganguly Sacrificed His Batting Spot to Make a Player Out of MS Dhoni
While talking to Gaurav Kapoor on the show ‘Breakfast with Champions’, Ganguly had revealed how badly he wanted to make a player out of Dhoni. After flopping in the initial matches, there was a lot of scrutiny regarding Dhoni’s place in the team. Ganguly could see Dhoni’s potential and took the step of promoting him.
It is interesting that Ganguly sacrificed his own No. 3 spot to give Dhoni a chance to prove himself. Ganguly had insisted that Dhoni was in shorts as he had no clue about it till the toss time. In the hindsight, it can be said that Dhoni proved his decision right.
“When Dhoni came into the side in 2004, he played at No. 7 in the first two matches. We went to Vizag [vs Pakistan]. I was watching the news and wondering how could make a player out of Dhoni. He had great potential,” Sourav Ganguly had said on the show.
“The next day in the morning, we did our warm-ups, did the toss, won it and decided to bat. While coming back I decided I will send him up the order. We’ll see what the result is. He was sitting in shorts because he knew he would bat at No.7. I told him to go up at No. 3.”
MS Dhoni ODI record by batting positions
| Batting Position | Innings | Runs | Average | 100 | 50 | Strike Rate |
| Opening | 2 | 98 | 49.00 | 0 | 1 | 86.73 |
| 3 | 16 | 993 | 82.75 | 2 | 6 | 99.70 |
| 4 | 30 | 1358 | 56.58 | 1 | 12 | 92.82 |
| 5 | 83 | 3169 | 50.30 | 4 | 18 | 86.16 |
| 6 | 129 | 4164 | 47.32 | 1 | 30 | 83.82 |
| 7 | 34 | 940 | 44.76 | 2 | 6 | 93.72 |
| 8 | 3 | 51 | 17.00 | 0 | 0 | 62.20 |
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