Sandeep Patil reveals he picked Dinesh Karthik over MS Dhoni for 2004 Champions Trophy

While the adulations have hardly been stopped coming, Sandeep Patil has decided to open up on how it all began for the Tamil Nadu star and revealed that, in 2004 when he was touring Zimbabwe with the India A squad, he received a call from the chairman of selectors Syed Kirmani, who asked him to suggest who between Dinesh Karthik or MS Dhoni should be picked as Parthiv Patel's replacement for the Champions Trophy in England.

"I called Dinesh in the hotel room in Harare that evening and told him: 'I got a call (from the selectors), and I've suggested your name. I wished him all the best. After that, I called Dhoni too to my room and explained to him that why did I suggest Karthik's name, and not his. I told him that his turn would come too, and that he will get his chance. I told him that as a coach, it's my duty to tell you that the reason being sending Karthik is that he's scored a hundred, and he was keeping wickets, whereas he hadn't played. Dhoni came into the limelight after Dinesh left, and we went to Kenya, where he blasted everyone," said Patil as quoted by TOI.

"The biggest fear for young players is that if I play a shot, I'll get out. That fear wasn't there in Dinesh while playing in the Ranji Trophy and for India A. On that Zimbabwe tour, he hit a brilliant hundred. I'd also watched his 160-odd innings against Mumbai also at the Wankhede Stadium (in 2004). I was really impressed by him. Luckily, Mahi (Dhoni) was also on that Zimbabwe tour."

"That said, I will still go with Dhoni. Unfortunately in the ICC events, 17 or 18 players can't be picked. I want Dhoni to play in 2019 WC, his fitness is fabulous, his exploits have gone down a bit but it happens with every cricketer. The experience he has...he can still deliver under pressure because the pressure during a World Cup is completely different and Dhoni has been."