Less than three years after his international debut, legendary Indian captain MS Dhoni was overwhelmed at witnessing a steep upward rise in his career graph on the back of being named vice-captain to Rahul Dravid for the ODI series during the tour of England in 2007.
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Just a month later, Dhoni’s “What did just happen!” moment arrived while he was in South Africa leading India in the inaugural edition of the ICC World Twenty20. A day before the memorable clash against England, India’s second T20I captain was named their 19th ODI captain for subsequent home series against Australia and Pakistan.
With very little time to “process” how to welcome the decision taken by the selectors wherein he was handed the responsibility of a “high-pressure job”, Dhoni had admitted that he indeed was in a vulnerable head space.
“I just heard the news in the afternoon and haven’t had the time to reflect on that since I am preparing for the games against England and South Africa. It seriously is [a high pressure job], I am telling you. I don’t know how I will react to it though. If the team does well, nobody bothers you,” Dhoni told PTI as quoted by ESPNcricinfo right after receiving a promotion.
As things panned out over the years, while Dravid led India with Dhoni in the Playing XI 84 times across formats, the latter had the privilege of captaining the current Indian head coach in 53 matches at the highest level. All in all, the duo together represented the country across a total of 158 international fixtures.
MS Dhoni Reveals Mantra To Captain Three Former Captains
During a recent interaction with popular comedian/YouTuber Tanmay Bhat at a promotional event, Dhoni had gone down the memory lane to reveal how he had managed to lead an Indian team comprising three former captains namely Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly and Rahul Dravid.
Popularly known for his man-management skills, Dhoni mentioned how his humble roots emanating from the state of Bihar (now Jharkhand) made sure that he stayed grounded and never carry his enviable status of a captain outside the field of play. In the hindsight, it wouldn’t be wrong to conclude that keeping things simple worked wonders for both Dhoni and the team.
“It [ODI captaincy] was a surprise for me. I was happy, yes, but at the same time I said, ‘How I should look at it?’. So, I looked at it as an added role and responsibility that was given to me. Not to forget I had seniors who were part of the side from long before. I was relatively new.
“So, I was like, I will just keep it as a role and responsibility. I will never think about myself as the captain, I don’t want to change myself in the dressing room. Outside the field, I never showed anyone or told anyone that you need to do this or that, because when there are seniors in your side, you have to earn their respect.”
It is worth of a mention that a fair share of credit for Dhoni being selected as the captain goes to the then chairman of selectors Dilip Vengsarkar as he didn’t doubt the youngster and his ability to handle the immense pressure of leading a side in the presence of several absolute legends.
Interestingly, only a year later, Vengsarkar had to allegedly face the consequences of going against Dhoni and then-head coach Gary Kirsten’s wishes with regard to a decision of handing a maiden national call-up to Virat Kohli.
