"Sachin Tendulkar suggested MS Dhoni's name for captaincy in 2007" – Sharad Pawar
Former BCCI chief and noted politician Sharad Pawar has revealed that Sachin Tendulkar suggested MS Dhoni’s name for India’s captaincy in 2007.
Sharad Pawar, the BCCI president from 2005 to 2008, said that Rahul Dravid had approached him during the 2007 England tour and expressed his unwillingness to captain India further.
Pawar then approached Sachin Tendulkar, who also turned down the offer.
“I remember India had gone to England in 2007. At that time, Rahul Dravid was the captain. I was there in England then, and Dravid came to meet me. He told me how he no longer wanted to lead India. He told me how the captaincy was affecting his batting. He told me that he should be relieved from the captaincy. I then asked Sachin Tendulkar to lead the side, but he refused the role.
“I told Sachin that if both of you and Dravid do not want to lead the side, how will we go about things? Then Sachin told me that we have one more player in the country who could lead the side, and his name is none other than MS Dhoni. After that, we gave the leadership to Dhoni,” Sharad Pawar told ANI.
Appointing MS Dhoni as India captain turned out to be a historic move
The year 2007 was eventful for Indian cricket. The side crashed out in the first round of the ODI World Cup and then went on to win a Test series in England.
The Sourav Ganguly era as captain was over. Rahul Dravid and Sachin Tendulkar were both 34 and reluctant to lead. The captaincy cloak fell over the then 26-year-old MS Dhoni.
In his first international assignment, MS Dhoni led an inexperienced Indian side to the inaugural T20 World Cup triumph.
His first overseas ODI assignment was the CB tri-series in Australia, which India won by beating a strong Australian side 2-0 in the best-of-three finals.
Anil Kumble was appointed to the Test captaincy after Rahul Dravid stepped down in 2007. Kumble retired a year later, and MS Dhoni took charge of the Test side too.
In 2009, India climbed to the No.1 spot in the Test rankings as well, a position they held for 18 months.
MS Dhoni remains the only captain to have won the ODI, T20I World Cup and a Champions Trophy.