“Rahul Dravid Once Scolded MS Dhoni for Playing a Bad Shot”- Virender Sehwag

Former Indian cricketer Virender Sehwag has disclosed an old memory where the current Indian Head Coach Rahul Dravid scolded MS Dhoni when he got out playing a bad shot.

Dhoni became a regular in the  Indian team in 2005 and took the T20I captaincy in 2007 with Dravid still as the Test and ODI skipper. He started off as an aggressive batsman having the capability to hit any ball out of the ground.

However, one day Dhoni was dismissed due to a rash shot he played, and as Virender Sehwag recalls, he was scolded by Dravid. Sehwag believes that the reprimanding from Dravid had a big impact on Dhoni and then he “started taking responsibility”.

“He was given the finisher’s role under Dravid, who once scolded him for getting out after playing a bad shot. I think that incident changed him. So around 2006-07, he transformed and started taking responsibility of finishing matches,” Virender Sehwag was quoted as saying by India TV.

Sehwag further discussed how BCCI President Sourav Ganguly sacrificed his position to make way for Dhoni to play in the team.

“Those days (2005) we were experimenting with pinch-hitters. Dada (Ganguly) had planned that Dhoni would get 3-4 chances at No. 3. If it works then fine, otherwise they would try someone else. Very few captains do it. He first sacrificed his (opening) spot for me and then he gave his slot to Dhoni. If Dada had not done that, Dhoni might not have become such a big player,” the 43-year-old stated.