 "Sachin Tendulkar with MS Dhoni before the screening of 'Sachin: A Billion Dreams' film. PTI")
Sachin Tendulkar recalled his early impression and initial years of Mahendra Singh Dhoni during an interaction. Tendulkar reminisced the time when he saw Dhoni for the first time, why he recommended his name for captaincy in 2007 and hilariously, how Dhoni used to shy away from the Master Blaster.
Tendulkar recalled seeing Dhoni for the first time on the Bangladesh tour in 2003-04.
“First time I saw him was in Bangaldesh. In one of the match he played one or two shots at the end. The kind of sound I heard from his bat, I immediately turned towards Sourav (Ganguly), sitting next to me and said: “Dada iske balle se awwaz kuch alag aa raha hai “There is something different when he hits the ball),” Tendulkar said on Jio Insider.
“The big hitters have this specialty and when they connect it you will think it is going to the distance but it will travel 10 yards more. I saw that quality in his batting,” he added.
Tendulkar also shed light on recommending Dhoni’s name for the captaincy when BCCI offered him the role in 2007.
“The BCCI offered me captaincy in 2007, but my body was in terrible shape.
“My observation of MS Dhoni was very good. His mind is very stable, he’s calm, he’s instinctive, and makes the right decisions. I recommended him for the captaincy”.
Dhoni is a magnet for youngsters to get some advice. Back in his early days, though, the Ranchi native was hesitant of going close to legendary Tendulkar.
Impact Shorts
More Shorts“Few players told me, most of the time in flight his seat would be next to be but he will switch it with some other players,” said Sachin with a laugh.
“Kuch saal wo mere baaju mei baitha hi nahi (For few years, he never sat next to me). We started sitting next to each other later. I didn’t know that he was so shy and that’s why he used to switch his seats.”
Dhoni is now inching towards his final stage of a storied career. After undergoing knee surgery, many believe Dhoni is playing his final Indian Premier League (IPL) season for Chennai Super Kings. Towards that goal, Dhoni stepped down as CSK skipper on the eve of the tournament with Ruturaj Gaikwad slotting in . CSK’s tournament opener resulted in a win against city-rivals Royal Challengers Bengaluru .