What if: MS Dhoni took up football instead of cricket

Mahendra Singh Dhoni is the most successful captain India have ever had. Under his captaincy, India broke numerous records and achieved some rare feats. During his reign as captain, India won the 2007 ICC World Twenty20, the 2011 ICC Cricket World Cup, and the 2013 ICC Champions Trophy. By doing so, he became the first ever captain in history to win all the three ICC limited overs championships.

As fans of Dhoni, we all know that cricket was not his first choice of sport when he was a kid. During his school days, he was a goalkeeper of the school football team. While watching him play football, the cricket coach approached Dhoni to take up the role of the wicket-keeper of the cricket team due to the absence of their first choice keeper, and Dhoni agreed. What happened since then is, as they say, history.

But what if, Dhoni did not agree to make the switch to cricket? What if he continued as a footballer?

#1 Yuvraj Singh would be captain

Before MS Dhoni was appointed as the captain of the Indian cricket team, Yuvraj Singh was the favourite to be the next Indian captain after Sourav Ganguly. Apparently, Yuvraj had even received a lot of mentorship from Sachin Tendulkar to become the leader, but the selectors went to Dhoni instead.

However, if Dhoni were not in the picture, Yuvraj would have been the number 1 choice for captain. His father, Yograj Singh would have been proud, and there would have been no “penniless” controversy between him and Dhoni.

His Punjabi teammate Harbhajan Singh would have been the vice-captain of the team. The Yuvi-Bhajji combination would have surely been an interesting and explosive one. Although India might not have received as much success as they did under Dhoni, they would have still gone on to win the 2011 ICC World Cup under Yuvi’s tutorship.

#2 Suresh Raina would have been the finisher...and flopped

Raina would not have been as successful as Dhoni

When Dhoni took over as captain of the Indian team, he appointed himself to take over the role of the finisher in the team and came in to bat at No 6 or No7, based on the situation of the match. Dhoni was highly successful playing the finisher's role for the team as he helped India chase down high totals and achieve big scores as well.

If not for Dhoni, Suresh Raina would have been the specialist finisher on the team, but alas, he would not have had the success which Dhoni had. Despite Raina being an aggressive batsman and having reasonable success with India, he has not particularly performed well under pressure and has a lot of shortcomings in his game with regards to short balls.

With Raina playing the role of the finisher, India would not have been a lot less lucky and would have lost those close battles which Dhoni had taken home.

#3 No 2007 World T20 for India

India would have had a year to forget in 2007

After the disastrous World Cup campaign in 2007, no one expected India to do well in the inaugural T20 World Cup especially because of the lack of experience in the particular format. When the squad was announced, hopes were further diminished as it lacked experience and Dhoni was to be at the helm for the first time in his career ahead of the likes of Yuvraj Singh and Harbhajan Singh.

What happened during the tournament was nothing short of a miracle, and it was Dhoni’s leadership which was behind India’s World Cup winning success. The new era of Indian cricket had begun, and Dhoni was at the helm.

But, if it were not for Dhoni, we would have seen a different story. We would have probably seen a similar team that of the 50 over World Cup sent for the T20 World Cup as well, and India wouldn’t have managed to reach the final.

#4 CSK would not have won any IPL title

RCB would have been IPL champions (Photo courtesy: BCCI)

Currently banned from playing the IPL, the Chennai Super Kings have the best record in the IPL amongst all the teams that have played. Whether it's the win-loss ratio or the number of winners/runners-up titles, CSK have outnumbered their opponents.

The immense success CSK have received can be credited to Dhoni’s captaincy. His captaincy is the main reason why players like Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, and Suresh Raina have become the superstars they are today.

If not for Dhoni, we would have seen Raina or Ashwin take up the captaincy of the franchise. Despite both of them being good players, they would not have been able to guide CSK to 2 IPL titles. Instead, we might have seen the Royal Challengers Bangalore outfit lift the title twice.

#5 Dhoni would be playing in the I-league and ISL

India’s most successful goalkeeper?

Before Dhoni made the switch to cricket, he was an immensely skillful goalkeeper during his school days in Ranchi. If his school cricket coach did not approach him regarding becoming the wicket-keeper, Dhoni would have continued to work hard on his goal-keeping skills.

The hard worker that he is, Dhoni would have surely made it big in the world of football, and would have been probably been playing as the captain of one of the I-League sides and would have been the national team’s number 1 goalkeeper.

Currently, he is the co-owner of the Indian Super League side Chennaiyin FC. But, if he had taken up football instead of cricket, he would have been captaining the Chennai football team, instead of owning it.