Published 17:09 IST, August 3rd 2020
MS Dhoni was denied place in 2000 India U-19s World Cup team thanks to THIS famous player
MS Dhoni hardly got any chances to play outside his state because small state players had very few opportunities at domestic level cricket in those days.
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Former India captain MS Dhoni is one of the greatest players to have played the game. The veteran stumper is known for his astute understanding of the game. The CSK captain took Indian cricket to new levels and made the Indian team a force to be reckoned with in world cricket. MS Dhoni is the only captain in the world to have all three ICC trophies in his cabinet (2007 T20 World Cup, 2011 Cricket World Cup, 2013 Champions Trophy). He also led the Indian team to the much-desired No.1 spot in the world Test rankings.
Yuvraj Singh's triple-ton in a domestic match denied MS Dhoni a spot in India's U-19 team in 2000
However, MS Dhoni hasn't had an easy journey to the top. The right-hander hailed from Jharkhand, a state which wasn't known for producing great cricketers. MS Dhoni got very few opportunities to play outside his state because small states players had very few opportunities in domestic level cricket in those days. Therefore, his talent was not talked about like Yuvraj Singh, Harbhajan Singh (Punjab), Zaheer Khan (Maharashtra) and Virender Sehwag (Delhi) in cricketing circles. Nobody outside of Ranchi had seen him playing and so nobody knew about him.
However, one of the opportunities that he got was shown in the MS Dhoni movie. Late Bollywood actor Sushant Singh Rajput played the role of MS Dhoni. Sushant Singh Rajput's portrayal of MS Dhoni was absolutely impeccable which left everyone floored. The Sushant Singh Rajput starrer showed about an opportunity that MS Dhoni got to impress the selectors.
The movie showed the first time when MS Dhoni met Yuvraj Singh on the cricket field. It was during a 1999-2000 Cooch Behar Trophy match between Bihar and Punjab. Former India all-rounder Yuvraj Singh was the captain Punjab in the match.
Batting first, MS Dhoni played a decent knock of 84 to propel Bihar to a total of 357 all out in the first innings. However, as shown in the MS Dhoni movie starring Sushant Singh Rajput, Yuvraj Singh scored a whopping 358 in that match, which absolutely overshadowed MS Dhoni's performance and the CSK captain didn't get a second innings to add on to his performance as a result of that monumental effort. Courtesy Yuvraj Singh's brilliant performance, he made it to the Indian Under-19 team that played the World Cup in Sri Lanka. On the other hand, MS Dhoni was left out of the Indian Under-19 team because of Yuvraj Singh's exploits.
Former India cricketer Ajay Ratra was chosen as the wicket-keeper of the side ahead of MS Dhoni in that tournament. The Under-19 team of 2000 went on to lift India's maiden Under-19 World Cup under the leadership of Mohammad Kaif and Yuvraj Singh was awarded the 'Player of the Tournament' for his incredible performances throughout. On the other hand, MS Dhoni took another four years before making his international debut for India and starring in many ODI finishes along with Yuvraj Singh ironically, with the most famous being the 2011 World Cup final in Mumbai.
IMAGE COURTESY: BCCI TWITTER
17:08 IST, August 3rd 2020