We are always very excited to know to happens in the dressing room. We are curious to know how our favourite players celebrate after a win and how they prepare before a big match. But only sometimes are we allowed to peek into the events that occurred behind those closed doors via any cricketer’s biography or when a player gives a candid interview.
The Cricket Lounge’s Somya Sharma lists some of the interesting stories from India’s dressing room.
1) Former India coach once grabbed Virender Sehwag’s collar
This happened during the 2002 Natwest series final when even after consistent reminders by John Wright Virender Sehwag played a “silly” shot and got out. This news created quite a stir inside and outside the dressing room.
2) When Sourav Ganguly almost gave Yuvraj Singh a heart-attack
Yuvraj Singh couldn’t sleep whole night when Sourav Ganguly told him “open karega na?” (will you open the innings). He had to take pills to get some sleep that night. Next day when he woke up, Ganguly casually informed he was only pulling Yuvraj’s leg. This is Dadagiri for you!
3) When Kapil Dev kicked underworld don Dawood Ibrahim out of the dressing room
Former Indian captain Dilip Vengsarkar had revealed that during a tournament in Sharjah in 1987 Dawood Ibrahim sauntered into their dressing room and told them that if they manage to defeat Pakistan, every one of them will receive a car from the gangster. Needless to say, Kapil kicked him out saying, “ Chal bahar chal.”
4) Virat Kohli’s first day in India’s dressing room
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Virat Kohli was very nervous before his debut and he was sitting alone in the dressing room when some of senior teammates including the likes of Yuvraj Singh and Harbhajan Singh told him that every new cricketer had to touch the feet of Sachin Tendulkar to seek his blessing. Rightly so, when Kholi approached Tendulkar’s feet, Tendulkar asked if he wanted something. When Kholi went and touched Sachin’s feet, Sachin laughed and said you’ve been pranked.
5) Sachin Tendulkar’s inspirational speech during the 2003 ICC Cricket World Cup
When India were struggling in the 2003 World Cup after a poor start, Sachin Tendulkar stood up gave an inspirational speech in the dressing room (imagine something similar to what Coach Kabir Khan said in the film ‘Chak De India’). This speech had a very positive impact on Team India and they went on to win 8 consecutive matches.
6) When the entire team pulled an amazing prank on Dada
This happened when Harbhajan Singh and Ashish Nehra stormed out of the dressing room alleging that Sourav Ganguly has made some nasty comments about them and they will not play the match under his captaincy, leaving a teary-eyed Ganguly offering to resign from captaincy. But, Rahul Dravid couldn’t see Ganguly like that and blurted out that it was an April Fool prank. After this, Dada picked up a bat and chased all of us out of the dressing room.
7) India’s captain cool was often bullied in the dressing room
In his initial years, MS Dhoni was bullied by some of his teammates who often called him “Bihari”. Yuvraj Singh also used to tease MS Dhoni by saying “hitting sixes is no big deal, you have to win matches to be a great player.”
