XtraTime Web Desk: Former India skipper, Sourav Ganguly desperately was desperate to take Mahendra Singh Dhoni with the national team for the historic tour of Pakistan in 2004, but Mahi missed the bus by a whisker, stated John Wright, the former India coach John Wright stated.
Parthiv Patel was chosen for the three-Test series, the first to be played against India in Pakistan after 15 years, and Rahul Dravid kept the wickets in the five One-day Internationals.
“Dhoni nearly toured with us to Pakistan (in 2004). Sourav was very keen to have him in the squad. He was on the borderline, and it was one of those decisions that could have gone either way. As it turned out, we selected a successful Test team, and he didn’t make it,” Wright told IANS in an interview, paying rich tribute to Dhoni. India won the three-Test series 2-1 and the five-ODI series 3-2.
“That was obviously when Dhoni had started to come into discussions at the national level. Sourav had very good things to say about him and always encouraged youngsters who came into the set-up. But you never know how things would have worked out (for Dhoni had he been picked for the Pakistan tour). That’s when I first started to hear about him,” recalled Wright, who had a five-year stint (2000-2005) as the first foreign coach of India.
Dhoni eventually made his One-day International debut in December 2004, against Bangladesh in Chittagong, aged 23 years and 169 days. And he made his Test debut in December 2005, against Sri Lanka in Chennai, when he was 24 years and 148 days old. The man from Ranchi went on to become one of the most successful India captains in the two shorter formats of the game – ODIs and T20s. Besides, he was a reliable hard-hitting batsman and specialised in chasing down winning targets with ridiculous ease in the two formats.
“And Dhoni seemed to be reading the game an over ahead. That’s always a sign of a good, strategic captaincy,” former New Zealand captain Wright said from his home city Christchurch. “He’s obviously one of India’s greatest captains along with one or two in the Modern Era. He has certainly been fantastic for India. His record speaks for itself.”
Courtesy: IANS