Who is cricketer Amit Deshpande mentioned in MS Dhoni: The Untold story?

Ever since its release MS Dhoni: The Untold Story has been making news, not just for not just the collections its grabbing but more than anything for the unheard stories that have been featured in the movie. One name that not many were familiar with Amit Deshpande also had a mention in the movie.

Amit a wicketkeeper-batsman by class was one of the top performers for Vidharba from 2000 to 2006-07 and was one of the prominent wicketkeepers in Under-19 cricket in the year 2000. His name appears in the movie when the scenes of a U19 selection meeting are shown where the selectors are discussing the names for ICC Under-19 World Cup 2000 in Sri Lanka.

The players they were considered are Gautam Gambhir, Anshul Kapoor and Deshpande, but the either of the three couldn’t make a cut into the squad. He was the most unfamiliar name for the audience among those mentioned and when the former cricketer was asked about it by TOI, he said, “Is it true,”

He received phone calls from former teammate and his brother but didn’t believe it, in the end, he decided to watch the movie himself. “I received a call from my former teammate Prabodhan Janbandhu about it. I didn’t take him seriously. Later, my brother called and said the same. Then he said, maybe they were talking about someone else. I haven’t seen the movie but now I am going to watch it. Those were one of the best days of my career,” he added.

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He had also featured in an inter-zonal One-day tournament where Dhoni was also playing for his team in 1999. And he believes he had heard about the hard hitter but didn’t have an interaction with him. “I had heard about him. Maybe he might have known my name too then. In zonal cricket there are only five teams, so one knows all the four competitors. I had heard about his big hitting but he couldn’t play any substantial innings during that tournament,” he said.

Neither Deshpande nor Dhoni made a cut into the team but it was former India keeper Ajay Ratra who played in the India U-19 team. “I genuinely felt hurt after being excluded. I still feel, I deserved to be in that squad. There’s no point discussing that after so many years. Nothing will change in my life. But I am happy that my name has been mentioned in Dhoni’s biopic. He also comes from a small town. So, he understood what it takes to get there,” he said.

He recalls an interaction with Dhoni while both the players were representing their respective state teams. “We discussed about the greenish wicket here and how it helped Bihar’s medium pacers. That was the last time I spoke with him,” Deshpande said.

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