The former BCCI selector has revealed why MS Dhoni was left out of India’s squad for the 2004 series against Pakistan.
Saba Karim, a former BCCI selector, has stated that he campaigned for MS Dhoni’s selection in India’s squad for the 2004 series against Pakistan. However, the effort failed because then-captain Sourav Ganguly had not seen Dhoni’s performance.
Saba recently highlighted how he witnessed Dhoni’s excellent performance for Bihar and was particularly impressed by the former India captain’s resolve. Despite being overlooked for the 2003-04 Pakistan series, Dhoni made his ODI debut against Bangladesh in 2004. He was also a member of India’s squad for the home series against Pakistan in 2005.
When I first saw MS Dhoni, he was in his second year of the Ranji Trophy. At the time, he was representing Bihar. As I watched him bat and keep wickets, I was struck by his brilliance, which carried over into his following performances. He was able to hit big lofted drives against both spinners and fast bowlers. However, his wicket-keeping footwork should be improved.
We worked together to overcome this issue, and what distinguishes MS Dhoni is his capacity to recall the skills learned during that time. He would think about it even during our chats. This was a watershed moment in his career, when he finally began to bloom. “In the domain of one-day internationals, we decided to employ him as an opener due to his powerful batting skills, which enabled him to amass rapid runs,” he stated on JioCinema.”
“The second significant moment occurred during the tri-series in Kenya, which featured India ‘A’, Pakistan ‘A’, and Kenya.” MS Dhoni was given the opportunity to play when Dinesh Karthik was called up to the national squad. Dhoni displayed great wicket-keeping skills during this event, and his batting was simply spectacular. During the series, we faced Pakistan ‘A’ twice, and Dhoni’s batting efforts stood out magnificently.”
Following that point, his career took a pivotal turn, and his name rose to fame. I recall being in Calcutta at the time when Sourav Ganguly was leading the squad. I approached him and told him about a wicket-keeper who deserved to be in the Indian team.
I underlined that this player was an excellent batter and a dependable keeper. Unfortunately, Sourav had missed MS’s performance soon before our journey to Pakistan, which resulted in his expulsion from that tour. “However, his time came soon after,” he added.
