"It took ten days to convince Sourav Ganguly to let him keep wickets" - Kiran More shares fascinating tale about scouting MS Dhoni

Former national selector Kiran More has opened up about how he scouted MS Dhoni. The cricketer revealed that it was their search for a hard-hitting wicket-keeper batsman who could replace Rahul Dravid that led them to MS Dhoni.

Kiran More was the first at the national level to spot MS Dhoni’s talent. The former wicket-keeper is widely credited for unearthing Dhoni and giving him a chance for India.

Speaking on The Curtly & Karishma Show, Kiran More told Curtly Ambrose and Karishma Kotak about how he unearthed MS Dhoni.

“We were looking for a wicket-keeper batsman. At that time the format was changing and we were looking for a power-hitter, someone who can come at no.6 or 7 and get us quick 40-50 runs. Rahul Dravid played 75 ODI matches as a wicket-keeper and he played the 2003 World Cup as well. So, we were desperate for a wicket-keeper,” More claimed.

More then shared a fascinating tale, explaining how he had to convince Sourav Ganguly to give MS Dhoni a chance. Deep Dasgupta was the designated wicket-keeper for East Zone during those days, with the Bengal wicket-keeper batsman having made his debut much before MS Dhoni.

Kiran More shared how it took him more than ten days to convince Sourav Ganguly to let Dhoni keep wickets for the final.

“My colleague saw him first, then I went and saw him. I especially flew down and saw him get 130 runs out of the team’s total of 170. He smashed everyone. We wanted him to play in the finals as a wicket-keeper. That’s when we had a lot of debate with Sourav Ganguly and Deep Dasgupta – who played for India then and who was from Calcutta. So, it took about ten days to convince Sourav and his selector to ask Deep Dasgupta to not keep wickets, and to let MS Dhoni keep wickets,” More mentioned.

Thanks #yogesh golwalkar for these ones.#Kenya & Zimbabwe #India A tour 2004#greattimes@rohangava9 @cricketaakash @GautamGambhir @munafpatel13 @DineshKarthik @msdhoni @hemangkbadani #avishkar salvi #dheeraj jadhav @vaibhavdaga9 pic.twitter.com/v3pV9zLOgA

— RAMESH POWAR (@imrameshpowar) September 4, 2020

India A’s tour to Kenya in 2004 was where MS Dhoni announced his arrival. The swashbuckling youngster from Ranchi ended the triangular series as India A’s top scorer, smashing 362 runs in seven games while notching up two tons and a fifty.

Kiran More looked back at MS Dhoni’s exploits, as he expressed his satisfaction at being able to convince Sourav Ganguly to let the Chennai Super Kings captain keep wickets in the final.

“MS Dhoni kept wickets in that game, and he smashed everyone including Ashish Nehra from the North Zone. Then we sent him to Kenya for that India, Pakistan and Kenya triangular series and he scored about 600 runs there. After that, everything is history,” More said.

Kiran More reveals the secret to finding players like MS Dhoni

Kiran More opened up on his scouting philosophy

Kiran More also talked about how it is important to gamble for players that have an X-factor, claiming MS Dhoni was a complete package when they picked him.

“You need to create a chance for a cricketer who seems different and special from others, who looks like a match-winner. He was the complete package, and it was only a matter of time before he clicked. It is like a gamble. You have to gamble on the right horse. We gambled on the right horse, and that day he won the race for us,” More concluded.

Kiran More grabbed the headlines recently when he suggested that Rishabh Pant has the potential to lead the Indian team in the future.

Gautam Gambhir said that he and MS Dhoni went on an India A tour to Kenya. The way MS was batting it wasn't normal to do because before that India had brilliant WKs, but never who could hit 100M sixes. He was phenomenal and that’s the reason he’s achieved what he has. (On Star).

— Mufaddal Vohra (@mufaddal_vohra) December 23, 2020