5 players you may not know debuted for India before MS Dhoni ft. Amit Mishra

MS Dhoni made his international debut for India on December 23, 2004. He played 90 Tests, 350 ODIs and 98 T20Is for team India and scaled great heights.

Apart from being a match-winner with the bat and being a safe-keeper, he captained India to glory on many ocassions.

In an international career spanning over a period of around 15 years, Dhoni shared the dressing room with quite a few Indian players.

On that note, here is a look at five cricketers you may not know who debuted for India before MS Dhoni:

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#1 Amit Mishra

Amit Mishra played 68 international matches for Team India and picked up 156 wickets - Source: Getty

Amit Mishra announced his retirement recently from all forms of cricket. He made his ODI debut for Team India on April 13, 2003, more than 18 months before Dhoni.

However, Mishra failed to cement his place in the Indian team in any of the formats. He played 22 Tests, 36 ODIs and 10 T20Is for Team India, his last international match for Team India being in February 2017.

He faced stiff competition from Anil Kumble and Harbhajan Singh during the early part of his career and thereafter with the emergence of Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja, Mishra failed to get a consistent run for Team India.

He picked up 156 international wickets for India and played under Dhoni during his career.

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#2 Gautam Gambhir

Gautam Gambhir made his ODI and Test debut before MS Dhoni Source: Getty

The current head coach of the Indian Men's cricket team made both this ODI and Test debut before MS Dhoni. His ODI debut was on April 11, 2003 against Bangladesh and his Test debut was against Australia on November 3, 2004.

Gambhir was an integral part of the Indian team that won the 2007 T20 World Cup 2007 and the 2011 World Cup under the leadership of Dhoni.

Gambhir last played for India in 2016. He scored 11081 runs for India across three formats and was a match-winner on his day.

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#3 Ramesh Powar

Ramesh Power played 33 international matches for India Source: Getty

The wily off-spinner is another one who deserved to play more than 33 international matches. He played 31 ODIs and 2 Tests for India.

He made his ODI debut during India's historic tour of Pakistan in 2004. His debut was nine months prior to Dhoni's debut for team India.

He picked up 34 wickets in 31 ODIs and 6 wickets in 2 Tests. He was a handy batter lower down the order and has scored a half-century in ODIs.

Powar played his last ODI and Test in the year 2007 and was thereafter not considered for selection.

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#4 Laxmi Ratan Shukla

Laxmi Ratan Shukla debuted for India in 1999 (File image; Source: Getty)

Laxmi Ratan Shukla was a stalwart for Bengal in domestic cricket. He made his debut for India in ODIs in the year 1999, more than five years before Dhoni.

Shukla played only 3 ODIs for India, all in the year 1999 but failed to create an impact. He scored 18 runs in two innings with the bat and picked up a solitary wicket of the West Indian Jimmy Adams in his international career.

He was unlucky not to play another game for India. He however continued to play IPL cricket till 2014.

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#5 Jai Prakash Yadav

Yadav made his ODI debut (the only format he played for India) on November 6, 2002. In a career spanning over three years, the all-rounder did not get a consistent run in the team and was thereafter never considered for selection.

He scored 81 runs in seven innings with the bat for India in ODIs and picked up six wickets with the ball.

Yadav unfortunately is one of the bowling all-rounders who failed to make it big in international cricket.

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