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Updated July 7th, 2020 at 18:26 IST

MS Dhoni's ex-Bihar teammate reveals when Ravi Shastri saw him playing for the first time

Former cricketer Tariq-ur-Rehman, who played alongside MS Dhoni for Bihar, recently talked about the destructive batting abilities of the wicketkeeper.

Reported by: Aakash Saini
MS Dhoni
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Former Indian captain MS Dhoni turned 39 on Tuesday, July 7. Before the cricketer made his international debut in December 2004 and went on to become one of the legends of the game, the attacking batsman represented Bihar in Ranji Trophy and in other Indian domestic tournaments. One of his ex-Bihar teammates, Tariq-ur-Rehman, recently interacted with Asianet Newsable where he talked about MS Dhoni when the wicketkeeper-batsman was still a youngster with no international experience.

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Tariq-ur-Rehman is a former Indian first-class cricketer who played most of his cricket for Bihar alongside MS Dhoni. In all, the 46-year-old played 59 first-class and 45 List A matches. Speaking about a young MS Dhoni, Tariq-ur-Rehman said that the ‘Captain Cool’ of Indian cricket was calm and composed right from the start of his career. The secret of Dhoni's success according to him, lies in being the present completely and that is what makes him mentally tough.

He recalled a six hit by MS Dhoni off the bowling of an in-form pacer Ajit Agarkar in one of his earlier Deodhar Trophy matches. Tariq said that the match took place at the iconic Wankhede Stadium and he heard about the six from some of his friends in Mumbai. According to the former Bihar cricketer, MS Dhoni smacked a short ball over Ajit Agarkar’s head for a six and left everyone “stunned” at the stadium. He added that former cricketer and commentator Ravi Shastri also viewed the match and it was his first viewing of the veteran wicketkeeper-batsman in action. Shastri is currently the head coach of the Indian team after he was appointed to the role in 2017.

Interestingly, Wankhede Stadium also witnessed the famous six by MS Dhoni towards long-on that ended India’s 28-year old draught of winning a World Cup. The Ranchi-born player was captain at the time and he scored an unbeaten 91 in the final.

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Image credits: BCCI Twitter

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Tariq-ur-Rehman also said that MS Dhoni once smashed his future India and CSK teammate Joginder Sharma for a six off the first ball of a Ranji Trophy match. He said that their coach promoted the wicketkeeper-batsman to open the batting against Haryana where he smacked the ball over the bowler’s head. MS Dhoni and Joginder Sharma later represented India at the 2007 T20 World Cup where the latter bowled tight last overs in the semi-final and final against Australia and Pakistan respectively.

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During the IPL 2020 trading and transfer window, MS Dhoni became one of the 20 cricketers to be retained by the Chennai Super Kings (CSK). The right-handed batsman was retained for Rs.15 crore (US$2 million) by the franchise for the now-postponed IPL 2020 season. MS Dhoni, who made his CSK debut in the inaugural 2008 edition, has led them to three IPL titles. Under Dhoni’s leadership, CSK lifted the coveted trophy in 2010, 2011 and 2018 editions.

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Image credit: AP

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Published July 7th, 2020 at 18:26 IST

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