Former India wicketkeeper and ex-chief of the selection committee, Kiran More, recalled MS Dhoni's breakthrough tour with India A to Kenya in 2004. 

The then youngster, who had done well for Bihar, got selected to play the tri-series, also featuring Pakistan A. But he wasn't initially the first-choice gloveman and could only play when Dinesh Karthik had to be called upon for national duty. 

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Picked ahead of another gloveman Deep Dasgupta, already a Test centurion and someone eyeing a comeback to the India side, the long-haired Dhoni stole the limelight during a rare non-international series to be aired on the television, with his amazing ball-striking against some of Pakistan A's most promising fast bowlers and spinners, making 362 runs in six innings, including two hundreds and one fifty. 

The fact that there was something special in this Ranchi-born lad was evident to the team management and selectors, remembered More while speaking to India Today. Also, the fact that they were looking to give Rahul Dravid some breathing space, only pushed Dhoni's case. 

"I give credit to my entire selection panel. But definitely, when I saw him the first time, he came across as a special player, he has done something different than others. 22 guys were playing and there was this one guy who looked outstanding out of that," More said. 

"When you look at a player like that, you always feel 'oh wow, this is something special, something different'. That's what you look at as a selector. That's what I found in him, even others saw the same."

"When you pick a player, you not only look at performance. You don't want to base it on the number of hundreds or fifties. You look for a match-winner. The way of his playing cricket, playing shots and keeping wickets."

"Dhoni had done well at the domestic level after which we picked him for India A team. Then he went to Kenya and scored nearly 500 runs. Our lives as selectors become easy when someone performs like that. Because you're fighting for his place and say this guy can be a future cricketer for India," he added. 

"Our lives became very easy. Everybody came on board, saying this guy won matches single-handedly in Kenya. The way he batted in Kenya, the way he dominated the bowling attack and kept wickets. Life becomes easy for selectors to put him in the 14-man squad for India. That's what happened to us."

Dhoni was given his maiden India call-up on the 2004-05 tour of Bangladesh. Overcoming the initial struggle there, he soon began flourishing in the middle-order. More says they knew Dhoni has what it would take to make a successful transition from domestic cricket to the international game. 

"He was always a smart guy who picked up things very fast. He understood the game very well. He knew to what level he needed to improve. That's what he did. He is an exceptional guy who studies the game very well."

"Lot of people don't know what exactly happens to them when they get picked in the Indian team, they suddenly get lost because of the pressure of the international stage. They can get dropped also. They don't do well in that first appearance but when they go back, they work hard and then they come back into the team."

"International matches are watched worldwide, there is pressure from the media, crowd and you want to do well in the chances that you get. It's more about your mental state when you're playing at that level. Dhoni was a mentally strong guy. He understood the game also very well."

While there were no specific conversations with then skipper Sourav Ganguly, the selectors realised that the team management wants to free-up some of Dravid's burden across formats. 

With him being a batsman of great importance to the side, More & company went about looking for options to take the gloves off Dravid.

More, though, remains grateful of Dravid to once again overlook his self-interests for the team's balance when he put his hand up to do wicketkeeping in ODIs. 

"We were looking for a wicketkeeper because Rahul had kept wickets for close to 75 matches in ODIs. Rahul kept wickets in the 2003 World Cup. We didn't want to put pressure on Rahul because of his batting because that was his first priority."

"Thanks to Rahul that he raised his hand and said he was ready to keep wickets for India. It's a very difficult thing to say for somebody who was doing well to put his hands up and say he was ready. Hats off to Rahul," More concluded.