Mohammad Kaif, Gautam Gambhir recall 1st impressions of MS Dhoni before 2004 India debut

On December 23, 2004, Indian cricket team saw a young new player don Indian jersey for first time. Little did y kw that 16 years later same young boy will be remembered as one of greatest ever Indian team captains in its history. On this day, MS Dhoni me his international debut as wicketkeeper-batsman featured in his first ODI match which was against Banglesh, having joined Mohamm Kaif at  crease.

Mohamm Kaif, who was Player of Match in MS Dhoni's first game recently spoke on Star Sports' show Cricket Connected. During same, a clip from show suggested what Kaif’s first impression was of Dhoni as he remembers time when MS Dhoni came to his attention. Speaking on show, Kaif mentioned that he first ticed Dhoni, when he was captaining Central Zone team during a Duleep Trophy match. Kaif ds how MSD was reporting for East Zone, t as a captain but only a wicketkeeper, ding how former Indian captain h also toured for India A back n.

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Kaif went on to d how a friend of his in Luckw spoke to him and asked Indian middle-order batter to watch out for Dhoni and heard praises of his big-hitting skills. n Indian team's stars like Virender Sehwag, Zaheer Khan, Harbhajan Singh could t think of MS Dhoni captaining India way he did and lift Indian cricket to such great heights.

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Gautam Gambhir reveals first impression of MS Dhoni

Former India batsman Gautam Gambhir got to kw about MS Dhoni during his starting days in professional cricket. duo was on various tours toger for India A as he recalled his first impression of 2011 World Cup-winning captain.

Gambhir recalled India A tour to Kenya and Zimbabwe and triangular series against Pakistan A and Kenya as he mentioned that  way MS was hitting ball, all knew he was someone who could keep wickets and hit ball that long. He ds how that was t rmal for any Indian wicketkeeper to do back n.

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Gambhir reasoned out by mentioning that earlier, India h brilliant keepers, but never those hard-hitting players who could hit those 100-meter sixes. He goes on to say that MS Dhoni was phemenal and that’s reason he’s achieved what he has.

MS Dhoni debut

MS Dhoni me his international debut during India’s ODI series against Banglesh in 2004. His stunning displays of batting during India A’s tour to Kenya and series in Zimbabwe back in 2004 led to him being called up for national team. However, all hopes and glitters fled as MS Dhoni h a miserable outing on his debut.

MS Dhoni walked in during 42nd over as India’s scoreboard re 180/5. He went on to join Mohamm Kaif who h been excellent with bat on his debut. Stitching an impressive 126-run partnership with Rahul Dravid, Kaif h also helped himself to a half-century in match.

Facing Mohamm Rafique, MS Dhoni hits his first-ever ball faced in international cricket towards square leg. Hoping to get off mark soon, MS Dhoni started running in an attempt to snatch a quick single. However, Mohamm Kaif and MS Dhoni were t on same wavelength as Kaif refused to run which meant that Dhoni h to turn around and get back into his own crease. However, he could get in time as Banglesh ran MS Dhoni out for a golden duck.

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