‘I, Zaheer, Harbhajan, Sehwag – none of us thought that MS Dhoni could captain India the way he did’: Mohammad Kaif
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One of the greatest international skippers of all-time, MS Dhoni made his international debut on December 23, 2004 during a One Day International (ODI) against Bangladesh. After 16 years since Dhoni played his maiden game, former India batsman Mohammad Kaif, recalled his first impression of the flamboyant wicketkeeper-batsman.
Interestingly, Kaif won the ‘Man of the Match’ award during that game as he scored 80 off 111 balls. As a result, Indian beat Bangladesh by eight wickets to gain 1-0 lead in the series at Chattogram. Kaif admitted that most Indian players in that camp didn’t think Dhoni would achieve such heights as a captain for the national side.
“The first time I noticed Dhoni, I was the captain of Central Zone in the Duleep Trophy. And he was playing for East Zone, not as a captain, a wicket-keeper. He had also toured for India A,” a clip aired of Kaif as saying, on the Cricket Connected Show on Star Sports.
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“I had a friend in Lucknow who told me ‘Kaif, there is a player. Watch him.’ He has long hair, and I’ve never seen anyone hit sixes as he does. All of us who were playing at that time – I, Zaheer, Harbhajan, Sehwag – none of us thought that he could captain India the way he did, who would lift Indian cricket to such heights,” Kaif added.
‘He was phenomenal’ – Gautam Gambhir on Dhoni
Former Indian opener Gautam Gambhir also recalled his first impression of young MS Dhoni. He remembered that India never saw a wicket-keeper who could hit massive sixes before Dhoni. He said that they first played together during the India A tour to Kenya and Zimbabwe in 2003.
“We went on an India A tour to Kenya and Zimbabwe. We played a triangular series against Pakistan A and Kenya. The way he was hitting the ball we all knew he was someone who could keep wicket and hit the ball that long and that far,” Gambhir said.
“That was not normal for any Indian wicket-keeper to do because before that we had brilliant keepers, but never those hard-hitting players who could hit those 100-meter sixes. He was phenomenal, and that’s the reason he’s achieved what he has,” he added.
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Sachin Arora
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