No one thought that Dhoni would be an Indian team Captain: Mohamad Kaif.
Key points:
- India’s most effective captain, collecting all three major ICC trophies.
- I was the director of the Central Zone during the Duleep Trophy when I first observed Dhoni.
- In Lucknow, I used to have a friend who said to me, ‘Kaif, there is a player. Only observe him.
Mohammad Kaif, a former Indian batsman who was the Player of the Match in MS Dhoni’s first ODI for India, remembered his first experience as the former captain of India.
Dhoni, who earlier this year declared his retirement from international cricket, cemented his reputation as India’s most effective captain, collecting all three major ICC trophies including leading India for the first time to two World Cup titles, one Champions Trophy win as well as the top of the ICC Test rankings.
Kaif about Dhoni’s debut match:
On December 23, 2004, in a game where Kaif scored 80 out of 111 balls to help India defeat Bangladesh over eight wickets, Dhoni started his India career.
This was also a game where, after facing only one ball, Dhoni was run out for a duck. Kaif remembered the moment he saw a young Dhoni as well as what comes to his mind, almost 16 years after Dhoni’s India debut.
A clip aired of Kaif as saying, on the Show on Star Sports.
I was the captain of the Central Zone during the Duleep Trophy when I first observed Dhoni. And he played for the East Zone, not even as a wicketkeeper, or not as a captain. He also had toured on the Cricket Linked Show on Star Sports for India A; a clip screened of Kaif as saying.
The further things Kaif revealed:
Kaif further disclosed how he had been told of Dhoni and his great-hitting abilities by a friend of his before the match. Kaif disclosed, including the likes of Virender Sehwag, Yuvraj Singh, Zaheer Khan as well as Harbhajan Singh, who were all part of the Indian squad during Dhoni’s debut game and many of whom began playing under Dhoni, that none of the players could understand how good he might become a captain.
A friend of Kaif told him about Dhoni:
“In Lucknow, I used to have a friend who said to me, ‘Kaif, there is a player. Only observe him. He has long hair, as well as he does, I’ve never seen anyone touch sixes. All of those who played at the time—I, Zaheer, Harbhajan, Sehwag—none of us figured that the way he did he could captain India, who might raise Indian cricket to such peaks,” continued Kaif.”
