Was MS Dhoni Sourav Ganguly's No.2 choice for keeper in 2004? New revelations stun fans

Former India captain MS Dhoni won appreciation from all corners for his exemplary leadership and his stunning exploits on the field during his illustrious career in international cricket. The wicketkeeper-batsman's lightning-quick glovework was deemed exemplary by many cricket pundits as well as fans. While the player made his first appearance in international cricket in 2004 and soon carved a niche for himself in the star-studded Indian line-up, he was not Sourav Ganguly's first-choice wicketkeeper as per Kiran Moore's recent comments.

MS Dhoni was apparently not the first-choice keeper in 2004 

Former India captain Sourav Ganguly and current BCCI president Sourav Gangly is often credited for introducing a dynamic brand of cricket when he was at the helm of the national side. Moreover, he roped in a number of youngsters in the team and backed them by giving them an extended run with the team. The southpaw's style of leadership ultimately paid dividends for Indian cricket. 

However, the team was struggling in finding a suitable wicketkeeper-batsman for the side. It was Rahul Dravid who had taken up the responsibility of keeping wickets during the time period, but soon it became imperative for the team management to look for a new option. While speaking on the Curtly & Karishma Show, India's former national selector Kiran More revealed how MS Dhoni eventually made the cut after many discussions with Sourav Ganguly. 

According to Kiran More, team India was searching for a dynamic wicketkeeper-batsman, who could score runs quickly and help finish the innings with a blitz at Number 6 or 7. More pointed out that he had flown down to watch MS Dhoni play live. Incidentally, the Ranchi-born cricketer slammed 130 runs in the game while casing a target of 170. However, Dhoni, who was plying his trade for the East Zone, could not keep wickets as Deepdas Gupta was favoured in the role. 

More recalled how he had a lengthy discussion with Sourav Ganguly, and it took him almost 10 days to convince Dada and the selectors to let Dhoni play as the wicketkeeper. This proved to be a turning point in MS Dhoni's career as the player was soon added to the India A side. After a string of impressive performances in Kenya, the champion cricketer was finally drafted into the national team.

MS Dhoni stats in international cricket 

MS Dhoni announced his retirement from all forms of international cricket on August 15, 2020. In this time, the wicketkeeper-batsman has led India to a number of wins, with the most important being the 2011 World Cup. Dhoni retired with 10,773 runs to his name in ODIs and became one of only 14 batsmen to have ever scored more than 10,000 runs in ODIs. Many experts believe that Dhoni is the best wicket-keeper captain in the world. When it comes to the longer format, the dynamic batter has 4,876 runs to his name in 90 Test matches. As per the MS Dhoni stats in T20Is, he has featured in 98 games in which he has amassed 1,282 runs.

MS Dhoni IPL 2021 journey 

While the Chennai Super Kings came up with an improved performance this season after their last year's debacle, the MS Dhoni IPL 2021 campaign did not have an ideal start. The veteran struggled to score runs at a frantic pace in the competition. After having played 7 games in the edition, the star player could only manage to score 37 runs at an ordinary strike rate of 123.33.

Image source: AP/PTI