3 players who you may not know played in MS Dhoni's international debut match ft. Joginder Sharma
Arguably the greatest white-ball captain to have played the game, MS Dhoni is considered a cult figure in India and worldwide. His contributions and record as a white-ball skipper will be etched in cricketing folklore forever.
He remains the only captain to have won every ICC white-ball competition, including the ODI World Cup, T20 World Cup, and Champions Trophy. Dhoni is also the most successful IPL captain alongside Rohit Sharma, leading the Chennai Super Kings to five titles.
However, we wouldn't have had the opportunity to witness the legend in action had he not been given the opportunity during the bilateral series against Bangladesh back in December 2004.
On this particular day (December 23), 20 years ago, Dhoni made his international debut, and as they say, the rest is history. It was a forgettable debut for Dhoni as he was dismissed for a golden duck. The nerves were there and a mix-up with Mohammed Kaif led to his departure without bothering the scorers.
Despite not scoring too many runs in the Bangladesh tour, Dhoni went on to become arguably the biggest name in the Indian cricketing history.
Dhoni’s international debut in Chattogram went well as far as the team was concerned as India took a 1-0 lead in the three-match series with an 11-run win. While Dhoni went on to become a stalwart, there were a few players from his debut match who most of the people won't remember were also part of the match.
Let us now have a look at three players who you may not know played in MS Dhoni’s international debut in Chattogram.
#3 Mohammad Ashraful
One of the earliest superstars of Bangladesh cricket, Mohammad Ashraful played in that match but couldn't quite make a significant contribution. He was dismissed for a four-ball two as Bangladesh couldn't quite chase down the target of 246 set by India.
Ashraful who made his international debut in 2001 had a great start to his career, scoring a Test century on his debut. Till date, he remains the youngest centurion in Test cricket history.
Ashraful was one of the most talented batters going around and when on form, he made any top-class bowling attack look clueless. It was the authority with which he played his shots that made him an indomitable part of the Bangladesh unit.
Despite all the talent and class he possessed, Ashraful was very inconsistent which eventually led to his ouster from the squad. He scored a brilliant 190 against Sri Lanka in 2013 and it seemed everything was clicking for Ashraful. However, he confessed to his involvement in match-fixing during the Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) and was banned subsequently.
#2 Sridharan Sriram
Unless for the cricket aficionados, not many would remember the fact that the former left-arm spinning all-rounder Sridharan Sriram played for India. Back in 2004, he was included in the Indian squad and was part of the playing XI on Dhoni’s debut.
Sriram scored just three runs but played a crucial role with the ball, bagging three crucial wickets to hand India a hard-fought 11-run win. Sriram played 8 ODIs for India and was snapped up by the Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) ahead of the 2010 IPL season.
Sriram played his final first-class match in 2011 and took up coaching responsibilities post his retirement. Sriram worked with the Australia A squad in 2015 when they toured India.
He was also part of the Australian coaching staff during the 2019 Ashes. In 2019 he was also appointed as the batting and spin bowling coach of the Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB).
#1 Joginder Sharma
While most of us remember Joginder Sharma as the bowler who was entrusted with the final over in the 2007 T20 World Cup final against Pakistan, not many would remember the fact that the medium pacer was also part of India's playing XI during MS Dhoni’s international debut.
Besides scoring five runs, Joginder also bagged an important wicket during the Chattogram ODI which India eventually won by 11 runs. Joginder’s career was very short lived as he played only four ODIs and as many T20Is for India.
His moment of recognition came in 2007 when he dismissed Misbah Ul Haq in the final over of the T20 World Cup final, helping India to a title win in the inaugural edition. Joginder had a stellar record with the ball in the first-class circuit and bagged 297 wickets at an average of 21.09.