Which Indian player suggested MS Dhoni’s name to captain India in 2007? Ex BCCI president reveals

Former BCCI president and Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar, who served as the president of the board for a period of three years from 2005 to 2008, revealed that legendary cricketer Sachin Tendulkar had suggested MS Dhoni’s name to lead the Indian team back in 2007, following Rahul Dravid’s departure as captain.

Narrating the incident in detail, Sharad Pawar said, “I remember India had gone to England in 2007. At that time, Rahul Dravid was the captain. I was there in England then and Dravid came to meet me. He told me how he no longer wanted to lead India. He told me how the captaincy was affecting his batting. He told me that he should be relieved from the captaincy. I then asked Sachin Tendulkar to lead the side, but he refused the role. I told Sachin that if both of you and Dravid do not want to lead the side, how will we go about things? Then Sachin told me that we have one more player in the country who could lead the side and his name is none other than MS Dhoni. After that, we gave the leadership to Dhoni.”

Under Dhoni’s captaincy, India went on to defeat Pakistan in the final over to lift the T20 World Cup trophy in 2007. Subsequently, India also won the 2011 World Cup and the ICC Champions Trophy in 2013. Dhoni holds a number of captaincy records, including the most wins by an Indian captain in ODIs and T20Is, and most back-to-back wins by an Indian captain in ODIs. India defeated England in the final of the Champions Trophy in 2013, making Dhoni the first captain to win all three ICC limited-overs trophies (World Cup, Champions Trophy and the World Twenty20).