MS Dhoni’s calmness made him so successful, credits Sachin Tendulkar

Arguably one of Dhoni’s strengths in international cricket is his ability to keep calm and composure during the tensest of finishes. Having guided India to all the three possible limited-overs trophies, the wicketkeeper-batsman bowed out from the game on Saturday. While not having heard a lot of MS Dhoni before his debut in Indian colours, Sachin Tendulkar revealed how the right-hander came out as a special cricketer. Having played both with him and under his captaincy, the former Indian batsman credited the now 38-year-old’s calmness, which he believes made him so successful. 

"MS gave hope and showed nothing is impossible. The one quality I liked about him was his calmness. It's something that helped him be so successful. It has been a fantastic journey, he had come from a small place (Ranchi) and played 15 years for India. I wish him all the best after a fantastic career. I enjoyed all his innings, and to single out one innings will be hard for me,” Tendulkar told the Indian Express.

The Jharkhand batsman made his debut under the leadership of Sourav Ganguly against Bangladesh in 2004. While just in his first game, the right-hander was dismissed for a duck, he, later on, went to make an immediate impact, including scoring a 148 against Pakistan in just his fifth ODI. Following his display against Bangladesh, Sachin recalled his discussion with Sourav Ganguly, where he credited the right-hander’s special abilities. 

"I saw him for the first time in Bangladesh during a one-day tournament. I was having a discussion with Sourav and told him that this guy has something special in him and has the ability to hit the ball.”

"However, hitting the ball at first-class cricket level and hitting it at the international level are two different things. He had hit two boundaries in that match, and I told Sourav, 'Dada, he has that jhatka (whip) in his hand which he uses while hitting the ball.' It was something special to see. It was his first outing with the Indian team. But the way he was hitting the ball, one could make out he was someone special."