Having observed MS Dhoni’s match-reading skills while standing in the first slip, batting maestro Sachin Tendulkar was so certain that he had suggested the BCCI to hand over the captaincy to Ranchi dasher back in 2007.
India's young team led by Dhoni won the inaugural edition of T20 World Cup, in which Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly and Rahul Dravid didn’t participate as they wanted to give juniors a chance.
It was before this event, Sachin was asked by the BCCI about his choice for the India captaincy role.
“I wouldn’t get into details how it happened but yes I did say when I was asked (by the senior BCCI people) as to what do I think,” Tendulkar recalled during an interview to PTI on the just-retired former India skipper.
“I had mentioned that I won’t be going to SA as I was carrying a few injuries… But back then, I used to stand in the slip cordon and I used to interact with MS and understand what he was thinking, the field setting and I would discuss all those aspects.
“I observed his match reading and I came to a conclusion that he had a good cricketing brain so I suggested to the board that this is what I feel. MS should be the next one to take charge,” he further recollected.
Tendulkar said he was impressed by Dhoni’s ability to convince anyone of his decisions.
“Whatever I was thinking and whatever he thought, we were more or less on the same page. If I have to convince you about something, I have to be on your page and that is exactly what happened with MS. We both were thinking alike and that’s why I suggested he should be the one.”
Dhoni took charge as Test captain in 2008 when the Indian dressing room still had senior pros including Tendulkar himself, Dravid, VVS Laxman, Virender Sehwag, Harbhajan Singh and Zaheer Khan.
Asked how he rated Dhoni’s handling of senior players, Sachin replied: “I can only speak for myself that I didn’t have any aspirations to become captain. I can tell you that I was not wanting to become captain and what I wanted was to go out and win every match for the team.
“For that whoever the captain was, I was going to give 100 percent all the time and whatever I feel are the right things to do, I was going to tell that person. Then the decision becomes captain’s but it becomes our duty to take the load off him.”
For Sachin Tendulkar, it was his responsibility to give suggestions to Dhoni and let him enjoy the freedom of taking the final call.
“If each person contributes in different capacities, then there is less load on captain… That’s what good teams do. The moot idea is to help each other.”
“When MS became the Test captain in 2008, I had completed almost 19 years in international cricket. After having played that long, I also understood my responsibility.
“They looked up to me as an elder brother and it was my duty to guide them and tell them what I feel and also tell them equally. It could not be one way traffic that I tell them and they listen to me.
“We should have kind of relationship that they should also be able to tell you what they feel and I believed in that.”
