MS Dhoni’s cricketing journey is nothing short of a fairytale. The man from Ranchi, who watched the likes of Yuvraj Singh, Virender Sehwag, and Harbhajan Singh on TV during the 2003 World Cup, led the same players to a historic victory four years later in the inaugural edition of the T20 World Cup.
During Dhoni’s nearly two decades-long illustrious career at the top level – he still leads the Chennai Super Kings in IPL – there have countless tales about his journey and greatness. And yet there is plenty untold. Former India keeper-batter, Syed Saba Karim, recently revealed one such instance when he met Dhoni for the first time and became familiar with his skillsets after becoming a selector for Bihar in the Ranji Trophy.
“The first time I saw MS Dhoni, it was his second year in the Ranji Trophy. He used to play for Bihar. I saw him batting and keeping, and I still remember while he was batting, he had that brilliance which we even saw later, playing big lofted shots to a spinner or a pace bowler. For wicket-keeping, the footwork that one should have, was lacking a bit. We worked with him on this at that time, and MS Dhoni’s greatness lies in this that he still remembered what he was taught then. When we would chat, he’d speak about it. It was a turning point in MS’ career where he actually got going. In one-dayers, we started to let him open because his batting was so strong and he used to get quick runs,” he said on Jio Cinema.
