Sachin Tendulkar identified MS Dhoni as ideal captain from their match based discussions

After the biopic release on MS Dhoni’s life and based on his history as a cricketer, many different people are linked to Dhoni’s success and they consider themselves as the main reason for his rise to captaincy for the Indian cricket team. The adept wicketkeeper, however, reckoned that Sachin Tendulkar was a huge supporter of his views and played the biggest role in his selection to the post. 

Gaurav Kapur brought up the reason behind Dhoni’s selection as captain, that is, Sachin Tendulkar, which took the viewers and the Master Blaster back to the old days.

"Whenever I used to be fielding in the slips, I would be discussing with him, constantly, about the fielding positions. I would place my opinions and then he would place his and it was during these interactions that I picked,” Sachin recalled. To this, Gaurav jokingly commented, “Dhoni may not have realised that Sachin was actually taking his job interview.”

Looking back, Dhoni led the Indian cricket team for the first time in 2007 where he and the crew brought back the World T20 title and made the country proud. The Dhoni-led Indians have also bagged victories in various other contests like the 2011 ICC Cricket World Cup and the 2013 Champions Trophy. He also led the Indian team to the number one position for the first time in the ICC Test rankings.

"I was not part of the conversation when I was made the captain of the team. I feel that looking at everything, maybe it was the honesty that I had, and my ability to read the game," MS Dhoni had said at an earlier interview by The Print.

"Reading the game is very important, and even though I was one of the youngest in the team at that point of time, when asked about my views by a senior player, I was not afraid or hesitant to share my feelings about the game. It probably also had to do with the fact that I was quite good with the other team members in the squad at that point of time."

Dhoni announced his retirement from Tests on 30 December 2014 and stepped down as the limited-overs captain in January 2017, thus handing over the Indian team to Virat Kohli.