5 revelations from MS Dhoni's life and career that came to the fore in the biopic

#4 Duleep Trophy selection that never came

Dhoni missed out on an opportunity to play for the East Zone in the 2001 Duleep Trophy

In 2001, Dhoni was selected to play for the East Zone in the Duleep Trophy, which used to be an inter-zonal first class tournament back then. East Zone were scheduled to play South Zone in Agartala from January 25-27, and Dhoni, who was selected as a wicketkeeper-batsman, was not informed in advance about the proceedings.

As shown in the movie, it was only through a newspaper column that Dhoni’s erstwhile school teacher came to know about the cricketer’s selection, and as fate would have it, Dhoni was informed about it a mere 24 hours before the date when the players were directed to report at the Dumdum Airport, Kolkata before their departure to Agartala.

Shell-shocked by the turn of events, the then 19-year-old knocked on the doors of the regional cricket association President, but by the time his concerns were addressed, it was already late night, and it was only an unlikely overnight road journey from Ranchi to Kolkata that could have given him a chance to make it to the airport in time.

Dhoni and his friends requested the President to arrange for a vehicle and assured him that they would reach the airport on time if they drove through the night. Help, however, was not to come, as the President was reluctant, and instead left it to a group of youngsters to arrange for a vehicle and reach the airport, all in less than 12 hours’ time.

The Ranchi-born lad didn’t give up, though, and with some help from his friends, managed to reach the Dumdum airport the next morning. However, to everyone’s shock and dismay, the flight had left the airport an hour in advance of its scheduled departure.

As a heartbroken Dhoni returned to his hometown, Deep Dasgupta played in his place against a South Zone that comprised of international stalwarts like Rahul Dravid, VVS Laxman and Javagal Srinath. It makes one imagine as to what would have happened if Dhoni had indeed played there and performed well in front of those international India cricketers.