After dominating its way through in the U-19 World Cup in South Africa earlier this year, India had its first major stutter in the final against Bangladesh.
The team got dismissed for just 177 despite Yashasvi Jaiswal's solid 88, but skipper Priyam Garg didn't give up and led his team wonderfully well, restricting Bangladesh U-19s to 102/6.
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Unfortunately for the Indian teens, opposition captain Akbar Ali's brilliant hand of 43 not out saw his team through to the title. But Garg's use of his bowlers, the calm and maturity under pressure didn't go unnoticed.
Garg says learning the trade from legendary MS Dhoni, whom he has never even met, came to great use. The 19-year-old has felt inspired watching Dhoni's videos of batting and captaining India, CSK.
"I follow Dhoni sir. He is my idol and inspiration. I follow his footsteps when it comes to batting or captaincy. I have learnt how to remain calm and adapt to any situation and condition from Dhoni sir," Priyam told the Times of India.
"I have watched his batting videos very closely and learnt from those. I always watch his videos of matches in which he turned the game on its head with his captaincy, batting or field-setting skills."
"Many times, we saw India losing five wickets for under 100 runs and then Dhoni took the team post 250. His knocks against Pakistan will always remain my favourite. He can calmly take the match deep and then shift gears," he added.
"The way he judges the loose deliveries and then sends those out of the park is mind blowing. Apart from this, his ability of running between the wickets is far superior than any player in the world. At his age, he is still so fit."
Garg, who comes from Meerut and has already played first-class cricket for Uttar Pradesh, also recalled some of Dhoni's best knocks, the videos of which he has been collecting.
"His innings of 113* vs Pakistan in 2012 in Chennai is one of my favourite innings. His 92* vs South Africa in 2015, 124 vs Australia in 2009 are also some of my favourite knocks by him," he said.
"I have marked those videos as favourites in my collection. There are a number of his innings I watch to learn. I learn the batting and the art of captaincy from his videos."
"That's what I learn from him – to analyse the situation and remain calm. I learn how he sets the field, how he is looking around and deciding on shot selection, how he is instructing a bowler from behind the wickets and what he tells bowlers when they are leaking runs," added Garg on Dhoni, who is hailed among the most successful captains and finest wicketkeeper batsmen in the history of the game.
