He also felt that cricket would give him the adequate exposure and opportunity to make a career in sport. He therefore suggested Dhoni to try his hand at wicket-keeping.
The tournaments that Dhoni played in those days were 15 overs a side. He wasn't getting enough opportunities to bat at 7 in those matches. Thats when he moved on to play for Central Coalfields Limited or the CCL.
Dhoni was also selected to play for the Bihar U-19 team in 1998. He played very well helping his team reach the finals of the Cooch Behar tropy.
In the final he played an excellent knock of 84 helping his team reach a score of 357. But the opposition team Punjab also had an outstanding player in their ranks. Yuvraj Singh scored a mammoth 358 alone and his team amassed a total of 839 and went on to win the match.
