How MS Dhoni’s astute mind led Sachin to suggest his name for captaincy

Indian batting legend Sachin Tendulkar claims he was the one who first pitched MS Dhoni’s name to the BCCI officials as his choice for the next captain of the Indian team. This was just before the inaugural World T20 in South Africa in 2007 when senior players like Tendulkar, Dravid and Ganguly had decided to let the youngsters have a go.

In an interview with PTI, Sachin said that he used to stand at first slip back then and would interact with MS Dhoni behind the stumps quite a lot. The legendary batsman was not only impressed with Dhoni’s match-reading skills, but both their thoughts would more or less be on the same page.

"I observed his match reading and I came to a conclusion that he had a good cricketing brain so I suggested to the board that this is what I feel. MS should be the next one to take charge... If I have to convince you about something, I have to be on your page and that is exactly what happened with MS. We both were thinking alike, "Sachin said.

MS Dhoni eventually led India to victory at the T20 World Cup in South Africa. He was made Test captain in the home series against Australia in 2008 after Anil Kumble called it quits after the third Test. But, the dressing room still had stalwarts like Dravid, Laxman, Sehwag, Harbhajan, Zaheer and Tendulkar himself.

About MS Dhoni’s handling of senior players, Sachin, from his point of view, said there was never any conflict, and he was always happy to give suggestions to the young captain. He, however, added that Dhoni enjoyed complete freedom in taking the final call.

And he took the right calls, too. Because within a year, Dhoni led India to the number one position in ICC Test rankings for the first time ever.

"After having played that long, I also understood my responsibility... It could not be one way traffic that I tell them and they listen to me. We should have kind of relationship that they should also be able to tell you what they feel and I believed in that," Sachin said.

MS Dhoni gave confidence to his players: Sachin Tendulkar

MS Dhoni celebrates the wicket of Alastair Cook.

The highest run-getter in international cricket also heaped praise on MS Dhoni’s ability to instil self-confidence in his players.

"I think for any player to have the captain's faith in your abilities makes a huge difference. It's not just this generation but all generations, players have needed support. It surely helps. MS having confidence in a number of players in the team has surely helped us without any doubt," Sachin added.

Getting Rohit Sharma to open in ODIs and backing Ravindra Jadeja to the hilt to make him the player he is today bear testimony to that fact.

Nowadays, Virat Kohli also speaks of how he always used to be in Dhoni’s ears during his formative years in international cricket. No wonder, there was a smooth passing of the baton there.