It is not too hard to explain that these two things are intertwined: MS Dhoni winning titles and him giving his full support to the players who believed would win him trophies.
Hailed as arguably the greatest white-ball captain in cricket history, Mahendra Singh Dhoni is known for handing out a much longer rope to his players than perhaps any other captain would. There are countless anecdotes of current and ex-cricketers praising and crediting Mahendra Singh Dhoni for the success they had because of the support and confidence they received from the former India skipper.
In this list, there are 3 of the biggest names in Indian cricket of the past 15 years whose careers were hanging in turbulent times but backing and support from Dhoni changed their fortunes.
Here are 3 big Indian stars whose careers were changed by MS Dhoni’s support and backing:
Rohit Sharma
Rohit Sharma‘s international career is talked about in two different phases: before and after being promoted to open the innings in the Champions Trophy 2013. He had been a really inconsistent player before being promoted to open in 2013 and there were doubts whether he’d be able to fulfill his talents and potential.
Until May 2013, he had featured in 88 ODIs and averaged a mediocre 30; after being given the opening duties in the 2013 CT, Rohit now averages a whopping 57 and is hailed as one of the world’s best-ever ODI openers, with his peak coming in the 2019 WC where he slammed 5 centuries.
Virat Kohli in Tests
Many wouldn’t remember this, but Virat Kohli‘s Test career perhaps wouldn’t have panned out – or would have been delayed – if not for Dhoni’s strong backing and confidence in his class and abilities.
An established player in the white-ball teams, Kohli made his Test debut in 2011, but couldn’t make a strong impression early on. In his first 11 innings, he had only a couple of fifties against the West Indies.
After the first two Tests in Australia on the 2011/12 tour, Kohli’s highest score was 23 and was set to be dropped from the XI; he had also flipped a finger at the crowd, making the BCCI angrier. But Dhoni didn’t deter from his faith in Kohli’s abilities and backed him.
In the third Test on that tour, on the spicy Perth pitch, Kohli was India’s lone man standing, scoring a fighting 75 in the second innings. And then came a turning point knock, 116 in Adelaide where Kohli was in full flow, his maiden Test ton. From thereon, there was no looking back for Kohli, and on India’s next Test tour of Australia in 2014/15, he became the Test skipper.
Ravindra Jadeja
Ravindra Jadeja had failed to shine either with bat or ball in the initial years of his career, though the finisher’s role was always going to be tough for a newcomer. With him having an ordinary IPL career, too, Jadeja’s stocks went down, but it was Mahendra Singh Dhoni who understood how to deal with a player of a character like Jadeja.
Dhoni got Jadeja in CSK and groomed him for bigger things at the international level. A regular part of the white-ball teams, Jadeja’s comeback in Tests in 2013 under Mahendra Singh Dhoni marked a significant change of fortune for the Gujarat all-rounder, and he’s only gone upward from that year.
