Happy that Indian cricket got Mahendra Singh Dhoni: Sourav Ganguly to Mayank Agarwal

Sourav Ganguly is a big fan of MS Dhoni and it was very much evident in the way he spoke about the legendary wicketkeeper-batsman in a recent interview with Mayank Agarwal.

It was former captain Sourav Ganguly's approval which led to MS Dhoni's selection in the Indian ODI team in 2004 and the rest is history.

BCCI president Ganguly said it is true that he told the BCCI selectors to pick Dhoni in the ODI side for the series in Bangladesh in 2004.

"It's true, but that's my job isn't it... it's the captain's job to pick and make the best-possible team. You go by your instincts, faith on that player that he will deliver for you.

"I'm happy that Indian cricket got a Mahendra Singh Dhoni, because he is unbelievable," Ganguly told Mayank Agarwal during a recent interview, the video of which was posted by the BCCI on social media on the occasion of Dhoni's 39th birthday on Tuesday.

"I'm happy that Indian cricket got a Mahendra Singh Dhoni, because he is unbelievable," @SGanguly99 to @mayankcricket on #DadaOpensWithMayank #HappyBirthdayMSDhoni @msdhoni pic.twitter.com/KCua8qq4hu — BCCI (@BCCI) July 7, 2020

Dhoni was quickly rising up the ranks in domestic cricket and was drafted into the Indian squad for the tour of Bangladesh in 2004 but he failed to fire with the bat in the 3-ODI series.

Dhoni again flopped in the 1st ODI of the 6-match series at home against Pakistan after which captain Ganguly and the Indian team management decided to promote him to No. 3 in the batting order.

Dhoni lived up to his captain and team's expectations by smashing 148 off 123 balls with 15 boundaries and 4 towering sixes in India's win and hasn't looked back since then.

Ganguly recalled that historic knock and reiterated his belief that Dhoni should have batted up the order throughout his career.

"He's one of the great players in world cricket, not just finisher. Everyone talks about the way he finishes lower down the order.

"He batted at No. 3 when I was captain and he got a 148 against Pakistan in Vizag in the old stadium and it was fantastic. I always believed that he should bat up the order because he was so destructive.

"The best players in the shorter format had the ability to hit boundaries at will. You look over a period of time in the history of ODI cricket, the best players can find the fence under pressure consistently and MS Dhoni was one of the best. That's why he was special," Ganguly said on Agarwal's new show Open Nets With Mayank.

Dhoni played 90 Tests for India before announcing his retirement from the longest format to prolong his limited-overs career. Since his debut, Dhoni has featured in 350 ODIs and amassed 10773 runs at an average of 50.57 with 10 hundreds and 73 fifties.