When skipper Dhoni asked Dada to lead India
   Date :17-Aug-2020

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Sports Reporter :
 
In his farewell international game, Ganguly, who had led India in 49 Tests, was asked to take charge of the proceedings when last Australian pair was batting
 
 
MAHENDRA Singh Dhoni has earned many adjectives in his life for his looks (early on in his career with long and coloured hair-do), unorthodox batting style, match-finishing abilities, leadership skills and calm & cool demeanour on the field. Dhoni’s one small gesture that is not remembered often was witnessed by Nagpur fans at Vidarbha Cricket Association’s Jamtha Stadium in 2008. In Sourav Ganguly’s farewell Test match at Nagpur, Dhoni, who was newly-appointed skipper of the Indian team, offered his former skipper to lead the side for final few overs as India inched closer to a series-clinching victory against Australia.
 

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It was a very emotional moment for Ganguly who accepted the offer and marshalled the troops for one last time. But the legendary player could not hold on for long and handed back the reins to Dhoni. Ganguly, who is credited to be among the players instrumental in bringing Dhoni into the Indian fold, has acknowledged the fact in his book ‘A Century is Not Enough’. “As the match came to a close, MS Dhoni in a surprise gesture asked me to lead. I had rejected his offer earlier in the day, but could not refuse a second time. Ironically, my captaincy career had begun exactly eight years ago on this very day,” Ganguly has written in the book.
 

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“I handled the bowling changes and field placements while the last Australian wicket batted. But I must admit, at that stage, I found it difficult to focus. So after three overs I handed it back to Dhoni saying, it is your job, MS. We both smiled.” Dhoni, who hit fifties in both innings (56, 55) had offered Ganguly the chance to captain at the start of the day but the left-hand batsman had turned down the offer. India gave Ganguly a perfect send-off as they won the Nagpur Test and win the series 2-0. It was quite fitting for Ganguly whose captaincy career had taken off with an incredible Test series win against Australia eight years before. 
 
MSD’s Nagpur Special
 
THOUGH the dashing wicketkeeper-batsman played 5 Tests, 9 One-Day Internationals and three Twenty20 Internationals in the city, the seeds of Dhoni making it to the Indian squad was sown at small venues of the city. As a Travelling Ticket Examiner (TTE), a young Dhoni with long flowing and multi-coloured hair, took Nagpur by storm with his hurricane batting exploits. In April 2004, participating in the 49th All India Inter-Railway cricket tournament played at Central Railway’s Ajni and VNIT grounds, Dhoni slammed twin entertaining tons.
 
Leading the South Eastern Railway side Dhoni slammed 148 and 124 in the tourney. Playing against East Central Railway at Ajni he scored 148 off 56 balls helping his team to a thumping 10-wkt win. He hit 19 fours and 11 sixes. With the ground not so big and the side boundaries quite small, many of those sixes sailed far beyond into adjoining residential quarters. His second hundred came against North Frontier Railway. Dhoni cracked 20 four and four sixes for a 56-ball 124. Dhoni, along with his other Railway colleagues stayed at the MLA Rest House in Civil Lines.
 
The knocks did not go in vain. They attracted the attention of national selectors and the flamboyant batsman was selected in the India ‘A’ squad for twin tours of Zimbabwe and Kenya. And by the year end, he was drafted into the Indian One-Day team against Bangladesh. A year later, Dhoni made his Test debut. Rest is history. Later as an international player, Dhoni again had some fond memories of the city. From the 17 international matches that he played in the city, Dhoni collected two hundreds and as many as six half centuries. Both his hundred came in One-Dayers at Jamtha. In October 2009, he made 124 from 107 balls as India defeated Australia.
 
Two months later in December (in the same year), his 111-ball 107 went in vain as Sri Lanka beat India. The middle-order batsman missed two hundreds by whiskers. He was one short of the coveted mark when he was run out against England in December 2012. Dhoni bettered his previous score of 98 scored against New Zealand in November 2010. Dhoni’s best T20 score in the city is run-a-ball 30 against New Zealand that came in a losing cause.