After India’s disastrous run in the 2007 ODI World Cup in England, the Indian team management had to look at the future with the ageing squad at their disposal.
The Indian think tank got the perfect opportunity to try out their youngsters in hot waters during the 2007 T20 World Cup.
Post-2007 ODI series against England, the big guns of the Indian team, Sourav Ganguly, Rahul Dravid, and Sachin Tendulkar decided to pull out of the inaugural edition of the T20 world cup.
Now, Tendulkar has opened up about the reason why he recommended MS Dhoni as the captain for the T20 competition.
“I wouldn’t get into details how it happened but yes I did say when I was asked (by the senior BCCI people) as to what do I think. I had mentioned that I won’t be going to SA as I was carrying a few injuries… But back then, I used to stand in the slip cordon and I used to interact with MS and understand what he was thinking, the field setting and I would discuss all those aspects. I observed his match reading and I came to a conclusion that he had a good cricketing brain so I suggested to the board that this is what I feel. MS should be the next one to take charge,” Sachin told PTI.
“Whatever I was thinking and whatever he thought, we were more or less on the same page. If I have to convince you about something, I have to be on your page and that is exactly what happened with MS. We both were thinking alike and that’s why I suggested he should be the one.”
“I can only speak for myself that I didn’t have any aspirations to become captain. I can tell you that I was not wanting to become captain and what I wanted was to go out and win every match for the team. For that whoever the captain was, I was going to give 100 percent all the time and whatever I feel are the right things to do, I was going to tell that person. Then the decision becomes captain’s but it becomes our duty to take the load off him,” Tendulkar said.
As it turned out, India won the T20 world cup competition in South Africa under the influential leadership of Dhoni.
India was provided with the successor for Dravid for the role of the captaincy in the Indian team. Shortly after, Dhoni was appointed as the captain of the ODI and Test side.
Subsequently, Dhoni also became the first captain to clinch all prominent ICC titles and took India at the summit of the Test rankings.“Used to stand in the slip cordon and interact with MS; understand what he was thinking,” Tendulkar states.
