Why did Dhoni drop Rahul Dravid in ODIs? Was Dravid totally ignored by Dhoni?

It so happened that after the Commonwealth Bank Series of 2008,then Indian captain M. S. Dhoni wanted a relatively younger team.

Seniors like Sachin Tendulkar,Rahul Dravid and Sourav Ganguly were present in that team.

While no one could ever question Tendulkar’s position in the team,as he was such a great batsman,and was definitely scoring at quite a fast strike-rate even at that age.

But Dravid and Ganguly,inspite of being in form,weren’t being able to keep pace with that time.

And young guns like Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma were willing to prove themselves always,and rising very fast. Rohit had had a brilliant World T20 2007,and Kohli was always at his imperious best. So the selectors tried to invest in these youngsters.

Dhoni started rotating Gambhir and Sachin as openers,keeping Sehwag fixed in the opening position.

So the top 3 positions were filled up by Gauti,Viru and Tendulkar.

Dravid used to bat at no.4 in ODIs. And the form that Kohli started putting up at that position(yes,Kohli once used to bat at no.4) after 2009 simply closed the gates for Dravid’s comeback in the ODI side.

So both Dravid and Ganguly were dropped after this series,and soon fell out of favour in the limited overs team.

While Dravid continued to flourish in tests,Ganguly decided to take immediate retirement.

When Dravid did make a comeback in 2009 in ODIs,he managed a solitary half-century(76) in 5 innings,and thus did himself no favours to be selected again. And he played with a strike-rate of 69 that year,which was criticised immensely by several cricket pundits. And Kohli,who succeeded Dravid at no.4 position thereafter,was averaging some 55 odd that year.

After the 2011 CWC,when India flew to England to play the foreign series,Dravid earned a surprise call-up in both ODIs and T20Is.

He declared that it would be his last series.

That’s why he could play only one T20I,where he thrashed Samit Patel for three consecutive 6s.

So,it wasn’t a case of ignorance on Dhoni’s part. It was only that he wanted to make a young and strong team for the 2011 CWC.

Personal opinion- Dravid was striking at 83 in 2007. He could have done better if he had been given more chances. So dropping him in 2008 was a little harsh,as I would say. But he was already 35 by that time,and not getting any younger. Kohli,in his early 20s was full of energy,and that was the probable reason why they were preferred!

Why did Deepika Padukone and Dhoni break up?

 There was a time when MS Dhoni had fallen in love with Deepika Padukone. Their rumoured affair had created a lot of noise in the cricket world and Bollywood industry. It was also being said that Dhoni and Deepika were almost engagement until Yuvraj Singh started showing his interest in Deepika.

When everything was going hunky-dory, MS Dhoni was reaching the peak of his career and Deepika Padukone made a smashing debut opposite King of Bollywood Shah Rukh Khan in Farah Khan’s film Om Shanti Om in the year 2008.

Dhoni did his every bit to meet this girl and asked all his journo friends and even Shah Rukh Khan to introduce him to Deepika and also to host a special one to one screening of Om Shanti Om.

Even Farah Khan once said humorously to Dhoni, “Why don’t you ask Deepika if she is a cricket fan? ”

Things were good between the two until Yuvraj started liking Deepika and wanted to get close to her.

That might come as a bitter truth and a big shock to our Captain Cool which left him to fall in depression. Deepika, though knew his unconditional love for her, yet shown full support to Yuvraj Singh and even attended all his matches and cheered for him.

And they were rumours as well that Deepika and Yuvraj were engaged in a private function at Mumbai.

Dhoni’s close associates said, “Dhoni sacrificed his first love for his friend !”. But soon after that, Yuvraj and Deepika’s breakup became the headlines!

Deepika confirms her relationship with her ex Yuvraj Singh stating in the interview that “Yuvraj used to interfere in my work and that created a lot of chaos in our relationship”.

When Dhoni was asked about his affair with Deepika, he told the media that the rumours are anything but true and the media was just linking up to them after they saw them together on a few occasions.

Dhoni also addressed the rumour of cutting his hair short on Deepika's advice. He said that he always liked his long hair look and felt the need for a new one which is the reason why he chopped off his long locks.

So in the end, it can be concluded that Dhoni sacrificed his love Deepika for his close friend Yuvraj.

What made Ganguly keep Dhoni in the team after the initial failure of Dhoni?

 Sourav Ganguly came across dhoni while playing the Challenger trophy in 2004 and was impressed with his big hitting in the net.Dhoni scored a hundred hitting Ashish Nehra out of Wankhede Stadium.He was selected in the Indian team soon and made his debut in December 2004.

At that time Ganguly wanted another big-hitter in the team to help the trio of Sachin Tendulkar, Virender Sehwag and himself. Ganguly thought that MS Dhoni could be the match-winner he was looking for.

Ganguly had a tremendous habit to give many young budding players an opportunity to perform and Mahender Singh Dhoni was one of them.Ganguly was known for backing his players when they needed him the most. For example, Virender Sehwag used to bat as a middle-order batsman for India. It was Ganguly, who promoted him and gave him the opportunity to open the innings for the team and later he went on to become the most successful opener India ever had after Sunil Gavaskar.

Ganguly always believed one or two matches cannot define a player.For a player to perform you have to give him fair bit of chances to express himself. The list includes L. Balaji, Gautam Gambhir,Yuvraj singh, MS Dhoni, Irfan Pathan, Zaheer Khan, Dinesh Karthik and several others. These players have gone on to become champions of the game. Had it not been for Sourav Ganguly, these players might not have become the legends that they are today.

Dhoni failed in his first four matches scoring 0, 12, 7* and 3.It was thenGanguly decided to give Dhoni a chance at No.3 for 3-4 matches.Ganguly left his spot of No.3 in the next match Dhoni was sent up the order to No 3 against Pakistan in Visakhapatnam and proceeds to smash 148 off 123 balls and since then there was no looking back for him.

In the words of Ganguly,"I tried to take the fear of failure away from individuals. Identifying the right talent is important too. And you need to allow them to express themselves. Once you create that atmosphere of taking the fear of failure away from any individual, you allow him more chances to succeed."That was the Ganguly mantra during his tenure as a captain.Ganguly always believed in giving chance to youngsters and he even gave up his batting positions to fit in a player.

So it was not only for Dhoni but it was Ganguly specialty to back up players and give them enough chances to showcase their skills.Ganguly is credited with having nurtured the careers of many young players who played under him, and transforming the Indian team into an aggressive fighting unit.

Which character of Dhoni drives you crazy?

 His calmness.

It's so unreal. You can't expect a person to be cool for 24 hours and I am sure Dhoni had moments where he completely lost it but whenever we see him on screen his calm and cool nature just looks unnatural and this character of Dhoni drives me crazy.

Let's look at some moments.

• India Vs Sri Lanka, world cup final, 2011.

Dhoni finished it off in style and we won the world cup after 28 years. Dhoni hit that winning shot! But look at his face.

Even after winning a world cup he didn't lose his calmness. He was the captain, he hit the winning shot, he should be the one dancing and celebrating but he chose to see his players celebrate.

This is his only picture with the world cup in Indian jersey. He didn't even pose with it, just gave it to his team.

• Ind Vs Sri Lanka, Celkon Cup, 2013.

During this tri- series of India, Sri Lanka and West Indies Dhoni was ruled out due to injury. But he made an entry with a bang in the final. With only 1 wicket in hand Dhoni finished the match.

Any celebration? Nope. Just a smile and a hug with Ishant Sharma.

One important part of this match I would love to mention, if you have seen this match's video in YouTube, you can hear him say let's meet the opponents.

His respect towards the opponents is simply amazing.

• India Vs Bangladesh, T20 World Cup, 2016.

Who can forget this match and it's nail biting end. Each and every person was screaming and celebrating and then there was this guy. Ice man!

• RPS Vs KXIIP, 2016.

2016 was the worst phase of MS Dhoni's IPL career. But no one can forget that last match with Punjab where he scored 23 runs off just 5 balls in the last over. Can you believe! 23 runs. He proved his critics wrong and slapped his haters with his bat, but did he celebrate?

No.

• India Vs Pakistan, Champions Trophy, 2017.

India losing to Pakistan was one of the biggest traumas of 2017. Now I am sure many people remember this Pakistani guy shouting “Who's the father now”, players were walking into the dressing room and he kept on shouting. Finally Shami lost his cool and confronted him.

But then Angel Dhoni appears.

Stops Shami from creating a scene.

Now, Dhoni is strong enough to beat the shit out of that guy howling but he chose what gentlemen do :) ( not attacking any Pakistani, please maintain peace ).

• Celebrity Clasico, 2017.

A charity match between Bollywood stars and Cricketers. He scored two goals that night and what was his celebration?

Nothing. Scored the goals, ran to his position.

• India Vs Sri Lanka, ODI match, 2017.

Sri Lankan fans started throwing bottles when their team was losing and this is how Dhoni reacted.

“Call me when you want to finish the match” - Mahendra Singh Dhoni

His favourite celebration? Just a smile (And this is exactly why I am going crazy).

His calmness (whether he wins a match or loses a match) always remains the same and it's impossible for a normal human being to stay that calm so guys don't try this at home, there is a reason we call him captain cool.