"He was a compulsive hooker" - Virender Sehwag reveals senior Indian cricketers were unsure of MS Dhoni making it big

Former India opener Virender Sehwag has revealed that many senior Indian cricketers had doubts over MS Dhoni’s success at the international level because he was a compulsive hooker during his domestic cricket days.

Dhoni, who made his India debut in 2005, went on to become a white-ball legend and India’s most successful captain in limited-overs cricket. He remains the only international captain to have lifted all three ICC trophies in white-ball cricket - T20 World Cup, the 50-over World Cup and the Champions Trophy.

According to Sehwag, though, a lot of star cricketers in the Indian team were not convinced of Dhoni’s talent before his international debut. Recalling his first memory of playing against his future captain, Sehwag told India TV:

“I remember playing against MS Dhoni in an India vs India A encounter. Dhoni was playing for India A and got out playing a pull shot. This was before his international debut and we were playing a practice match ahead of a Test series.”

Without naming anyone, Sehwag admitted:

“After he got out, a lot of seniors said he is a compulsive hooker and might not succeed in international cricket. But I was the only one who opined that we too were not very good when he started but improved as we played more and more. I felt he could definitely get better if chances were given to him.”

Sehwag and Dhoni went on to become two of the most explosive hitters of the ball in international cricket. While the former opened the innings across formats, the latter made his name as a renowned finisher in limited-overs cricket.

“I could see my story being repeated in MS Dhoni’s case” - Virender Sehwag

The 43-year-old went on to explain that he could empathize with Dhoni’s situation when he got out playing a hook because he had a similar experience.

Sehwag revealed that he was out in similar fashion during a domestic final and received a lot of brickbats. Sharing details of the incident, Sehwag said:

“In the 1999 Duleep Trophy final between North and West Zone, I was also dismissed to a short-pitched delivery from Paras Mhambrey. At that time as well, people said “he cannot play short-pitched deliveries, then how can he survive in international cricket”. But I overcame the hurdles and earned the respect of the cricketing world. I could see my story being repeated in MS Dhoni’s case. That’s why I backed him.”

Sehwag made his India debut in 1999 and went on to amass over 8000 runs in both Tests and ODIs. He remains the only Indian cricketer with two triple hundreds in Test cricket.