OTD| Former legendary India captain MS Dhoni made his debut for the Indian cricket team in 2004

On This Day Former legendary India captain MS Dhoni made his debut for the Indian cricket team in 2004. Former India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni made his international debut against Bangladesh on this day. He represented India for the first time during the tour to Bangladesh. In the first match of the ODI series, the management decided to give the young, hard-hitting wicketkeeper-batsman from Jharkhand a chance to showcase his potential. 

For MS Dhoni, it was a long journey from domestic cricket to the national team, and he impressed many people throughout this journey. His exploits for the India ‘A’ team were a major reason for his promotion to the senior team.

A forgettable start to a legendary career

The young wicketkeeper-batsman had a bad day at the office in his first international match. Indian captain Sourav Ganguly won the toss and opted to bat first. Bangladesh gained momentum in the initial overs, dismissing Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly, and Yuvraj Singh even before India could reach 50 runs on the board. Rahul Dravid and Mohammad Kaif built a partnership of more than 100 runs to provide solidity to the crumbling Indian batting order. Both of them made crucial half-centuries to bring India back into the game.

Once Dravid lost his wicket, the Indian team once again started losing wickets at regular intervals. MS Dhoni walked in to bat at No.7 in a critical situation for India, as the Men in Blue had lost half of the side for 180 runs. The debutant played only one delivery and got run out due to a mishap in communication with the batter at the other end. Dhoni returned to the pavilion for a duck, starting his international career in a rather disappointing manner.

India eventually won the match by 11 runs to take the lead in the ODI series. In the times to come, the debutant MS Dhoni would emerge as one of the greatest cricketers to have donned the Indian jersey, proving the trailer of his career completely misleading.