MS Dhoni reveals his source of motivation ahead of ODI debut for India in 2004

Former India cricket captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni completed 15 years in international cricket on Monday. MS Dhoni made his international debut under Sourav Ganguly’s captaincy on December 23, 2004 against Bangladesh in an ODI at Chattogram. It wasn’t exactly a debut to remember for Dhoni as he was run out for a first-ball duck as India huffed and puffed ir way to 245-8 in ir quota of 50 overs. But, little did we kw that it was just a blip before a Dhoni-sized juggernaut would take over Indian cricket.

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In a video shared by Dhoni's Indian Premier League (IPL) franchise Chennai Super Kings (CSK), he revealed what he told himself ahead of his India debut. wicketkeeper-batsman vividly remembers  day, having recalled how well he had slept before match. Contrary to what many players feel ahead of ir debut, Dhoni did t feel pressurised and just wanted to be himself. To be expressive on field irrespective of match situation, he remembered his exploits for his state team, Jharkhand and India A team prior to Bangladesh ODI and took a lot of confidence from it.

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MS Dhoni opens up on India debut

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Dhoni’s debut game came in series opener between Bangladesh and India in winter of 2004. Although he failed to impress across 3-match series, n India captain and current BCCI President Sourav Ganguly persisted with Dhoni seeing his ability and mental strength, in next ODI series at home against Pakistan. In second ODI against Pakistan, Ganguly went with his instinct to demote himself at .4 in order to allow Dhoni to bat at .3 after winning toss and batting first. rest is history as MS Dhoni made a name for himself by smashing a memorable 148, which pretty much set up his career and made him a household name.

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