Cricket legend Sachin Tendulkar has complimented former Indian skipper MS Dhoni, saying that he is "intuitive, instinctive" and makes right decisions and recalled that he had in 2007 recommended a young MSD to the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) for leading India. Dhoni has led Chennai Super Kings (CSK) to five IPL titles and the team has a new captain this season. Ruturaj Gaikwad led CSK on Friday in the match against Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) in their Indian Premier League (IPL) tournament opener game in Chennai. The home team won the match by six wickets. Though Gaikwad was captain, MS grabbed everyone's attention as he was often seen helping his new captain in setting field positions.
Speaking to JioCinema, Sachin revealed that after the 50-over World Cup debacle in 2007, he was offered the captaincy, but he was not in good shape. Instead, Sachin recommended Dhoni's name to the then BCCI president Sharad Pawar.
"It was the president of BCCI in 2007, Mr Sharad Pawar, who asked me to lead India. I said, 'My body is in terrible shape, I do not think a captain who will now and then go to the dressing room and have his ankle strapped or some treatment on his shoulder and all that, it is not the right thing to happen to our team.' My observation of MS Dhoni has been very good because I have been fielding in slips, and have had multiple conversations with him. Invariably, I would ask him, 'What would you have done right now?' And the answers were balanced. He is very intuitive; he is instinctive, and the awareness of that given moment is remarkable," Tendulkar said.
"His mind is very stable, he is calm, he is instinctive, and he makes the right decisions. At that time, I recommended him to the BCCI President and said, 'I see leadership qualities in him, so you should consider him," Sachin added.
Dhoni's has an impressive legacy. With an ICC T20 World Cup, an ICC Cricket World Cup, and an ICC Champions Trophy, he is the only captain to have won all ICC titles. Alongside that, he has secured five IPL and two Champions League T20 titles for CSK and the Asia Cup for India in 2010 and 2016 as well.
CSK's next match will be against last year's runners-up, the Gujarat Titans, in Chennai on March 26.