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.