"He stood up and said, 'I want to open'" - Vivek Razdan narrates endearing story of young MS Dhoni volunteering to open on tough pitch
Former Indian cricketer Vivek Razdan has narrated an interesting incident of a young MS Dhoni volunteering to open the innings in a club match on an extremely challenging surface.
The anecdote dates back to 2003-04 before Dhoni made his debut for India. Razdan was captaining the side in a local tournament that was being played in Bareilly.
Sharing the story on Sportskeeda’s show SK Tales, the 52-year-old recollected:
“He (Dhoni) was playing the Duleep Trophy at that time. But there was a gap between matches and he came to play our semi-final. I was the captain in that match and decided to bowl after winning the toss because the pitch looked a bit patchy and we were not sure how it would behave."
The opposition IPL team was strong as it featured some notable Ranj Trophy players. Former Indian batter Ajay Jadeja was part of Razdan’s team along with a few Ranji Trophy players.
Continuing the story, Razdan added:
“In the first few overs, we understood the nature of the pitch. Some balls were bouncing awkwardly, a few were staying low. Somehow, the opposition managed to score 150-155 in 40 overs.”
Both teams used to sit in tents back then as there were no dressing rooms there. Razdan’s team could hear the opposition talk about the final. They thought it was impossible to score so many on such a poor pitch.
Razdan remembered wanting a senior player to open with Jadeja considering the nature of the surface. He had a word with a couple of senior batters who, understandably, expressed their reluctance, having never opened before. On how MSD jumped into the equation, the former Indian pacer revealed:
“MS Dhoni was also sitting there. Suddenly, he stood up and said, ‘I want to open. Can I go?’. There was so much confidence in his tone that I straightaway agreed to his request. Some people are scared of challenges while some others turn them into opportunities.”
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“He smashed the bowlers all over the park” - Razdan on Dhoni’s knock
According to Razdan, he wanted the team to play out the first 15-17 overs safely and then think about the target. However, Dhoni threw all the equations out of the window. The former cricketer continued the intriguing story and added:
“So Dhoni went to open. Our plan was to bat safely and keep wickets in hand in the first 15-17 overs. He turned the tide of the match in those number of overs. He added 120 runs for the opening wicket with Jadeja and Dhoni contributed at least 93 of those. He smashed the bowlers all over the park on such a pitch.”
Razdan recollected that one of the sixes hit the wall and rebounded all the way to the bowler’s run-up. Concluding his story with people’s reaction to the future Indian superstar’s knock, he said:
“All those watching were stunned thinking - ‘who is this guy?’. 18 years have passed since the incident and Dhoni still carries expectations of the nation on his shoulders.”
Now 40, MSD recently took back the captaincy of the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) in IPL 2022 after Ravindra Jadeja requested him to do so.