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

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

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

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Kaif went on to add how a friend of his in Lucknow spoke to him and asked the Indian middle-order batter to watch out for Dhoni and heard praises of his big-hitting skills. The then Indian team's stars like Virender Sehwag, Zaheer Khan, Harbhajan Singh could not think of MS Dhoni captaining India the 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 know about MS Dhoni during his starting days in professional cricket. The duo was on various tours together for India A as he recalled his first impression of the 2011 World Cup-winning captain.

Gambhir recalled India A tour to Kenya and Zimbabwe and the triangular series against Pakistan A and Kenya as he mentioned that the way MS was hitting the ball, all knew he was someone who could keep wickets and hit the ball that long. He adds how that was not normal for any Indian wicketkeeper to do back then.

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

MS Dhoni debut

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

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

Facing Mohammad Rafique, MS Dhoni hits his first-ever ball faced in international cricket towards square leg. Hoping to get off the mark soon, MS Dhoni started running in an attempt to snatch a quick single. However, Mohammad Kaif and MS Dhoni were not on the same wavelength as Kaif refused to run which meant that Dhoni had to turn around and get back into his own crease. However, he could get in time as Bangladesh ran MS Dhoni out for a golden duck.

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