Not Virat Kohli or Rohit Sharma, Smriti Irani picks MS Dhoni as her favorite cricketer

Union Cabinet Minister Smriti Irani, who is currently leading the Ministry of Minority Affairs, has picked former India captain MS Dhoni as her favorite cricketer. She revealed it during a question-and-answer session on Instagram.

A user asked:

“Your favorite cricketer?”

Irani, a former actress with 1.3 million followers on Instagram, dropped three stickers of Dhoni to reveal her choice.

Screenshot of Smriti Irani's reply.

Dhoni, who is one of the most popular cricketers in the world, is one of the most successful captains in international cricket. The 42-year-old has guided the Men in Blue to all three ICC trophies – the 2007 T20 World Cup, 2011 ODI World Cup, and 2013 Champions Trophy.

The Ranchi-born cricketer is also the joint successful captain in Indian Premier League, having led Chennai Super Kings (CSK) to five trophies, joint most with Rohit Sharma’s Mumbai Indians (MI).

Dhoni retired from international cricket on August 15, 2020. He represented India in 90 Tests, 350 ODIs, and 100 T20Is, scoring 17266 runs, including 16 centuries and 106 fifties.

---

Saba Karim reveals turning points in MS Dhoni’s career

Saba Karim recently revealed the turning points in MS Dhoni’s illustrious career ahead of his international debut.

The former wicketkeeper batter revealed how Dhoni worked with him to improve his game during his early days in international cricket. The 55-year-old said that the wicketkeeper-batter’s second turning point of his career was a tri-series between India A, Pakistan A, and Kenya.

Karim recently told Jio Cinema:

“The first time I saw MS Dhoni, it was his second year in the Ranji Trophy. He used to play for Bihar. I saw him batting and keeping, and I still remember while he was batting, he had that brilliance which we even saw later, playing big lofted shots to a spinner or a pace bowler. Even for wicket-keeping, the footwork that one should have was lacking a bit.”

He continued:

“We worked with him on this at that time, and he still remembered what he was taught then. When we used to chat, he used to speak about it. It was a turning point in MS’s career where he actually got going."

Karim added:

“The second turning point was the tri-series in Kenya between India ‘A’, Pakistan ‘A’, and Kenya. MS Dhoni got an opportunity to play because Dinesh Karthik was joining the national team. There, MS kept the wickets well and for batting don’t even ask! We played against Pak ‘A’ twice and he batted so well in the series.”

MS Dhoni was then picked by Team India for the tour of Bangladesh in December 2004. He then made a mark with his 148 versus Pakistan and 183* against Sri Lanka in 2005.