Happy that Indian cricket got MS Dhoni, he's unbelievable: Sourav Ganguly

Former India skipper and current BCCI President Sourav Ganguly has said that he's happy that Indian cricket was able to get a player like Mahendra Singh Dhoni.

The wicket-keeper batsman MS Dhoni is celebrating his birthday today. Ganguly said that he realised the potential of Dhoni when he selected him, but the wicket-keeper made it big on his own.

"Every captain's job is to select the best team possible. You go by your instincts, you go by your faith in the player that he will deliver for you and you know, I am happy that Indian cricket got a Mahendra Singh Dhoni," Ganguly told opening batsman Mayank Agarwal in a video posted by the official Twitter handle of BCCI.

"He's unbelievable, one of the great players in world cricket, everyone talks about the way he finishes the game off lower down the order, but he batted at number three when I was the captain and also got 140 odd against Pakistan in 2005," he added.

Ganguly also said that he was believed in sending Dhoni higher up in the batting order because of his potential to hit big shots.

"I always believed that he should bat up the order because he was so destructive, the best players in the shortest format have the ability to hit boundaries at their will, you look over a period of time, the best players can find the fence under pressure situations and MS Dhoni was one of them," Ganguly said.

Dhoni has so far played 350 ODIs with his highest score being 183 against Sri Lanka. He also remains the only captain to win all major ICC trophies (50-over World Cup, T20 World Cup, and Champions Trophy).

Also referred to as 'Captain Cool', Dhoni is known for his calmness and exquisite captaincy on the field.

Over the years, he has cemented his place as one of the finest wicket-keepers across the world. His agility behind the stumps has given India many breakthroughs as the Ranchi-based wicket-keeper has done successful stumpings in no time.

He is also known for his knack of opting for reviews and many have jokingly remarked to change the 'Decision-Review System's' name to 'Dhoni-Review System'.

In December 2014, he announced his retirement from Tests and gave a chance to the likes of Wriddhiman Saha. Dhoni called time on his Test career after playing 90 Tests, managing to score 4,876 runs at an average of 38.09.

Then in 2017, he handed over the captaincy to Virat Kohli in the 50-over format. However, the wicket-keeper enjoys a great camaraderie with the latter and the duo have been seen often taking decisions together on the field.

Under Dhoni's leadership, India also managed to attain the number one ranking in Test cricket. His Indian Premier League (IPL) franchise Chennai Super Kings (CSK) has also won the tournament thrice under his leadership.

Dhoni was slated to return to the cricket field on March 29 during the IPL's opening match between CSK and Mumbai Indians. However, the tournament has been postponed indefinitely due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The 39-year-old has been currently enjoying some time away from the game. He last played competitive cricket during the 2019 World Cup. 

-ANI

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