Dada, this guy has got the gift of hitting the ball hard: Tendulkar recalls his first impression of MS Dhoni
Under Dhoni's leadership, India went on to win the 2011 World Cup, which was also Tendulkar's first triumph in the mega tournament.
MS Dhoni announced his retirement from international cricket on Saturday as the only player to win three ICC trophies - 2007 T20 WC, 2011 ODI World Cup and 2013 Champions Trophy as a captain. Dhoni was pioneer of the Indian cricket, who took over the charge of the Indian team during a critical situation. Team India was eliminated in the 2007 ODI World Cup after humiliating defeats against Asian neighbours Bangladesh and Sri Lanka. In the same year, ICC organised the inaugural T20 World Cup and Team India decided to went with a young and fresh team with a new captain: MS Dhoni.
The Ranchi boy took the responsibility and led the team to the T20 World Cup win in South Africa. Dhoni's captaincy ability came into limelight and seniors of the team backed him to took over the ODI captaincy too.
Batting great Sachin Tendulkar was one of the players during Dhoni's initial years, who saw potential in him and backed the wicketkeeper-batsman. Under Dhoni's leadership, India went on to win the 2011 World Cup, which was also Tendulkar's first triumph in the mega tournament. (Also Read | MS Dhoni – The Pioneer of India’s rise from the ashes of 2007 ODI World Cup debacle)
The Master Blaster went down memory lane to recall Dhoni's debut series. Tendulkar revealed the wicketkeeper-batsman hit a boundary to long-off, which made him and then captain Sourav Ganguly in praise of him.
"I first saw him on the tour of Bangladesh. Sourav (Ganguly) and I had heard that he could hit the ball well. But could he do that in international cricket? That was our question. On that tour, he didn’t score too many runs, but in the couple of shots he hit, including one boundary he hit to long-off, Dada and I thought that we have spotted something special. I told him, “Dada, this guy has got the gift of hitting the ball hard, ” Tendulkar told Hindustan Times.
"My first observation was: he has a very strong bat swing and during the impact the transfer of weight is really good; he will be able to generate great power."
Sachin further talked about his experience of playing under Dhoni's leadership. He called out the milestones India achieved with Dhoni as the captain. (Also Read | 'End of an Era': Sourav Ganguly pays tribute to former Indian captain MS Dhoni)
"That partnership (Dhoni as captain, Gary Kirsten as coach) really clicked well. We were the No.1 Test team and we won the World Cup. We had almost the same guys—the ones who played the 2007 World Cup and the 2011 World Cup—with just one or two changes. I really enjoyed that period," said Tendulkar.