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'Don’t bowl to him’: Chopra remembers moment when young Dhoni refused his advice

Before MS Dhoni came to the fore, Team India had tried several wicket-keeper batsmen. However, none of the players could stake their claim in the team as the search continued. Then a young MS Dhoni arrived and rest, as they say, is history. Dhoni not only solved the wicketkeeper conundrum for India but went on to become one of the greatest batsmen and captains in the history of cricket.

Dhoni is known for backing his instinct and going against conventional wisdom and that has provided him immense success. Former India batsman Aakash Chopra remembered an instance when a young Dhoni refused to take his advice during an India A tour.

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“I want to take you back to the 2004 A tour of Kenya and Zimbabwe. MS Dhoni was also part of that tour and I distinctly remember Dhoni bowling to you in the nets. Because he was my roommate, I told Dhoni ‘don’t bowl to him (Karthik), he is your competition. And if you want to bowl, at least bat. What are you doing? He will play for India, he is almost there, sometimes you need to also play’. But Dhoni said, ‘no, no, I want to bowl’,” Chopra said on his Youtube channel.

Dinesh Karthik also talked about Dhoni and said that when Dhoni ‘took the complete country by storm’, he knew that the wicketkeeper position is closed.

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“When Dhoni came in, he took the complete country by storm and I knew that door was closed. Keeper-batsman is always a decade-long job. Syed Kirmani was there, then Kiran More. Dhoni was a once-in-a-generation kind of a cricketer. Take Ian Healy or Adam Gilchrist, if you are a good keeper, you are there for 10-12 years.”

Karthik is looking to make a comeback to the Indian team and talked about playing in the T20 World Cup. He has played 26 Tests, 94 ODIs and 32 T20Is for Team India.

Source: Hindustan Times

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