Been following MS Dhoni from the start of his India career, reveals Virat Singh

From a cricketing backwater to one of the sleeping giants in Indian cricket, Jharkhand’s rise as a hotbed became synonymous with its prodigal son MS Dhoni. While the likes of Varun Aaron, Ishan Kishan, Ishant Jaggi and Shahbaz Nadeem emerged as giants in the domestic circuit, another youngster, who has shown enough promise at the senior level since the age of 15, who is all set to dominate the circuit for years to come is Virat Singh.

Virat Singh, who was picked by Sunrisers Hyderabad for a handsome INR 1.9 crore, almost nine times his base price, has credited his rise to MS Dhoni, who shaped Indian cricket for close to 15 years in his own terms after his duck on debut against Bangladesh in December 2004.

"I've been watching MS Dhoni from the start. I still remember his first game [for India] - he was run out [for a first-ball duck] against Bangladesh. My father told me he's from Ranchi, so I was interested in watching him. After that, he was doing well in international cricket and I looked up to him,” Virat told ESPN Cricinfo.

The 22-year-old, who made his senior debut in 2014 in all three formats, played under MS Dhoni in the 2016-17 Vijay Hazare Trophy in New Delhi. While MS Dhoni starred with the bat to take the team over the line against Bengal, Virat had a pretty ordinary campaign, managing south of 50 in six outings. It was then that he received a suggestion from the then Indian skipper which helped him better his game against spin bowling.

"He said, 'You've got the fitness and technique and you will get the runs. Before this season also, he was in the nets helping me in manipulating the field, how to change the mind of the bowler, to play spin,” Virat added.