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Aakash Chopra has narrated an interesting tale of a young MS Dhoni bowling to Dinesh Karthik despite the fact that both were competing for the keeper-batsman’s slot in the Indian team.
The intriguing incident occurred during India A’s tour of Kenya and Zimbabwe in 2004. Both Dhoni and Karthik were part of the tour, while Chopra was Dhoni’s roommate.
Recalling the story, Chopra told Karthik during a conversation on YouTube:
“I want to take you back to the 2004 A tour of Kenya and Zimbabwe. MS Dhoni was also part of that tour and I distinctly remember Dhoni bowling to you in the nets. Because he was my roommate, I told Dhoni 'don’t bowl to him (Kartik), he is your competition. And if you want to bowl, at least bat. What are you doing? He will play for India, he is almost there, sometimes you need to also play'. But Dhoni said, ‘no, no, I want to bowl’.”
Dhoni ended up as the leading run-scorer in the triangular tournament held in Kenya with 362 runs, which included two centuries. Karthik scored 160 runs in three first-class matches in Zimbabwe.
Both Dhoni and Karthik ended up making their India debuts in 2004 itself. Karthik got the opportunity first as he represented India against England in an ODI at Lord’s. Dhoni made his international debut in a one-dayer against Bangladesh in Chattogram towards the end of the year.
Once MS Dhoni took the country by storm, I knew that door was closed: Dinesh Karthik
Although Karthik made his debut before Dhoni, it was the latter who went on to cement his place in the Indian team. Karthik admitted that once Dhoni had made his mark, there was no chance for him to win back the keeper-batsman’s slot. He stated:
“When Dhoni came in, he took the complete country by storm and I knew that door was closed. Keeper-batsman is always a decade-long job. Syed Kirmani was there, then Kiran More. Dhoni was a once-in-a-generation kind of a cricketer. Take Ian Healy or Adam Gilchrist, if you are a good keeper, you are there for 10-12 years.”
The 36-year-old did attempt to revive his career by pushing for a slot in the team as a pure batter. He tasted limited success, with his most memorable performance coming as a Test opener during the 2007 series win in England. Reflecting on how he went about things in the Dhoni era, Karthik revealed:
“I never brood over things. My nature has always been - what is next? That has always been my constant question to myself. At that point, it was to become a batter. There was a spot in the middle-order and then as opener. One thing that people, including Dhoni, would say - ‘you’re so talented as a batsman, you can open’. So that gave me a lot of confidence and then Rahul Dravid also said you have the skills to be a pure batter. So I went to domestic cricket, scored lots of runs, then got an opportunity as an opener and did well.”
Karthik has represented India in 26 Tests, 94 ODIs and 32 T20Is. He will be seen in action for Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) in the second half of IPL 2021.
