Former opening batsman of the Indian team Virender Sehwag said that former Indian captain has made a lot of sacrifices during his tenure as a captain to make MS Dhoni the player he is today. Sehwag also revealed that if Ganguly didn’t allow Dhoni to bat up the order in his place he wouldn’t have become a legend.
While talking to India Today Sehwag said, “We were experimenting with the batting order at that time. We decided that if we get a good opening partnership then Sourav Ganguly would come at No.3 but if we had a bad opening stand then we would send pinch hitters like Irfan Pathan or Dhoni to accelerate the scoring rate.”
Showering heaps on praises on his former captain Sehwag said that Ganguly believed in giving chances to new players and added that it was his own decision to send Dhoni up in the batting order.
“Ganguly at that time decided to give Dhoni a chance at No.3 for three or four matches. There are very few captains who would first give away his own batting spot for Virender Sehwag and then his set spot of No.3 for Dhoni. Had Dada (Ganguly) not done that, Dhoni would not have become such a great player. Ganguly always believed in giving chances to new players,” the fiery opening batsman further added.
Sehwag was also quick to highlight the role of Rahul Dravid in Dhoni’s career after he took over the captaincy from Ganguly. He also took us through the golden day when Dravid scolded Dhoni for throwing his wicket playing a rash but eventually those scolding helped Dhoni to change his approach towards the game and become the best finisher. He also reminded us of those wonderful partnerships Dhoni had with the elegant Yuvraj Singh in the middle-order.
Dhoni has also continued the tradition of supporting young cricketers as making young cricketers made their debut under his captaincy and has stood by them in their difficult times which makes him an important member of the Indian squad.
