MS Dhoni’s achievement as a cricketer is surreal, to say the least. In particular, he has etched his name in the history books as one of India’s finest leaders.
Dhoni is the only skipper in the history of cricket to have won all the three ICC trophies – 2007 T20 World Cup, 2011 ODI World Cup and 2013 Champions Trophy. He also led India to the pinnacle in Test cricket.
In an interview with News18, Sanjay Jagdale, a member of the India selection committee that named Dhoni the captain in 2007, said he was always impressed with the latter’s confidence.
According to Jagdale, Dhoni was confident of winning the inaugural edition of the T20 World Cup in 2007, which was his maiden stint as Team India skipper.
"Sir, hum World Cup jeet ke ayenge (We will return with World Cup). I can never forget these words from him. He was not casual at all, he looked very confident about what he said. And India won the World Cup," he said.
Jagdale also recounted an incident when Dhoni's observation from the dressing room prompted Greg Chappell to call him the future 'captain'.
"I was the selector and manager. And, I was watching the match with the coach Greg Chappell. Dhoni was padded up and sitting on the staircase. When Muttiah Muralitharan began to bowl round the wicket. I just mentioned to Greg if his ‘doosra’ will be effective bowling from round the wicket. Dhoni told me in Hindi; “Sir, mai aapko yahan se bata doonga, about his doosra (I will tell you from here). And Dhoni explained.”
When Dhoni's turn came to go out there in the middle, Chappell asked Jagdale about his exchange with the wicketkeeper. After listening to the chat, Chappell said: "Sanjay, he (Dhoni) is your future captain.”
“And he did become the India captain with Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid and Sourav Ganguly withdrawing from the Twenty20 World Cup. I will never forget this incident,” Jagdale remarked.
MS Dhoni retired from international cricket in August 2020 after representing the country in 90 Tests, 350 ODIs and 98 T20Is. The 40-year-old continues to play the Indian Premier League (IPL) for Chennai Super Kings (CSK).
