MS Dhoni and Virender Sehwag
Former Chennai Super Kings batsman, S Badrinath, on Sunday revealed that MS Dhoni, who led the Chennai Super Kings to three IPL title wins and at least to the playoffs in each season, wasn't the franchise's first-choice for the skipper's role. The veteran cricketer said that Virender Sehwag was CSK's primary choice as captain ahead of the inaugural IPL season in 2008.
Revealing it on his YouTube channel, Badrinath recalled that CSK was looking to rope in Sehwag in the 2008 auction in a bid to make him the captain, but the former cricketer opted the Delhi-based franchise, hence paving the way for Dhoni to take up the role in CSK. Dhoni later became the most expensive player in that auction.
“IPL started in 2008, and if you see who was the first option for Chennai Super Kings, it was Virender Sehwag,” Badrinath said. “The management had decided on picking Sehwag for sure, but Sehwag himself said that he was brought up in Delhi, so he would have a better connection.
“The management agreed for him to play in Delhi, thinking it would be better. Then came the auctions, and they saw who was the better player, and before that India won the 2007 World T20. And only then did they decide to sign Dhoni.
“In 2008, MS Dhoni was the most expensive player, they bought him for INR 6 crores. So this is a story you probably don’t know but Dhoni was picked instead of Sehwag. According to me, MS Dhoni coming to CSK was killing three birds with one stone. One, he is one of the best captains the world has ever seen. There is no trophy that he doesn’t have.
“Second, the best finisher. A finisher is a very important part of all the best T20 teams around the world. Even if you see all the good teams today, Mumbai Indians have Pollard, Kolkata Knight Riders have Andre Russell, CSK have MS Dhoni. And third, he is an excellent wicketkeeper. One of the best and safest keepers I have ever seen.”
