"You can't become a big cricketer by sitting inside the dressing room" - When Sourav Ganguly opened up on famous move to promote MS Dhoni to No. 3
Former India keeper-batter MS Dhoni batted in the middle and lower middle-order for the most part of his international career. However, the Ranchi-born legend first tasted success at the international level when he was promoted to No. 3 in an ODI.
Having failed to make a mark with the willow in his first few matches, Dhoni was promoted to No. 3 in an ODI against Pakistan in Visakhapatnam in April 2005. The rest, as the cliché goes, is history. The hard-hitting batter slammed 148 off 123 balls, clobbering 15 fours and four sixes, and never looked back.
Speaking to Sports Tak in 2020, former India captain Sourav Ganguly, who was the brain behind the legendary move, revisited the decision that was instrumental in changing the fortunes of Indian cricket. He explained that players need to be given chances to prove themselves on the field as they cannot do it by sitting in the dressing room. Ganguly said (as quoted by ESPNcricinfo):
"There was the Challenger Trophy, he (Dhoni) scored a hundred for my team while opening the batting, so I knew [of his potential]. He got the opportunity to bat at No. 3 in Vizag, scored a superb hundred and whenever he has got a chance to play more overs, he has scored big.
"A player is made when you send him up the order, you can't make a player by playing him lower down the order. I always believe you can't become a big cricketer by sitting inside the dressing room. The kind of abilities, especially the six-hitting prowess he had, was rare. He changed his game towards the end of his career but when the raw MS Dhoni arrived, it was very important to make him free," Ganguly went on to add.
India batted first in the Visakhapatnam ODI against Pakistan in 2005 and ended up posting an imposing 356-9. In response, Pakistan were bowled out for 298 as the Men in Blue won the contest by 58 runs.
What was MS Dhoni's record at No. 3 in ODIs?
The former India captain batted at the No. 3 position in one-dayers only 16 times during his illustrious white-ball career. However, he possessed an amazing record at the one-down position.
Batting at No. 3 in ODIs, the legendary stumper scored 993 runs at an average of 82.75, with two hundreds. His career-best one-day score of 183* off 145 balls also came at the same position - against Sri Lanka in Jaipur in October 2005.