'Calm and Took Right Decisions': Sachin Tendulkar Reveals Story on How he Recommended MS Dhoni as Captain in 2007 – News18

As the conversations continue on MS Dhoni relinquishing his role as captain of the Chennai Super Kings for the 2024 season of the Indian Premier League, the legendary Sachin Tendulkar revealed how he had observed the keeper-batter during his younger days and what led to him suggesting MSD as the skipper.

Tendulkar had spoken on Match Centre Live, exclusively on JioCinema where he revealed that he was offered the role to lead the side. “It was the President of BCCI in 2007, Mr. Sharad Pawar, he asked me to lead India,” said the Master Blaster.

However, the legendary batter had declined the role as he believed that he was not in the best shape to captain the team. He added,” My body is in terrible shape, I don’t 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’s not the right thing to happen to our team”.

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The 50-year-old had mentioned how he used to test Dhoni’s intellect by asking how he would have reacted to situations in the game. “I’ve had multiple conversations with him. Invariably, I’d ask him, ‘What would you have done right now?’ And the answers were balanced. He’s very intuitive, he’s instinctive, and the awareness of that given moment is remarkable,” revealed the World Cup winner.

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Tendulkar praised Dhoni’s mind and credited his decision-making abilities which led to him being recommended as the captain we all know today. He commented,” “His mind is very stable, he’s calm, he’s instinctive, and takes 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”.

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The rest as we all know is history. Dhoni has gone on to win it all for the Indian team and now is in the final stages of his IPL career as he has already passed on the baton to Ruturaj Gaikwad and will look to call time on his career at some point which remains unclear.