‘He scored a hundred for my team while opening, so I knew it’ – Sourav Ganguly on reasons behind promoting MS Dhoni to No 3

MS Dhoni didn’t make an auspicious to his international career, falling for low scores in his first four ODIs. But it was his promotion up the order to number three that turned his career around for the better. In the match against Pakistan at Vizag, Dhoni slammed the Pakistan bowling attack to a swashbuckling 148, helping India win the match by 58 runs.

Sourav Ganguly, the Men in Blue’s skipper in the match, has said how it’s necessary for batters to play more overs in order to show their skills. Ganguly, the current president of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) mentioned that he was aware of the Ranchi boy’s potential, having played alongside him in the Challenger Trophy.

He also put forth Sachin Tendulkar’s example, saying that the Master Blaster flourished only after he started opening the batting for Team India.

It was very important to make MS Dhoni free, says Ganguly

“He (Dhoni) got the opportunity to bat at No.3 in Vizag, scored a superb hundred and whenever he has got a chance to play more overs, he has scored big. (Sachin) Tendulkar wouldn’t have become Tendulkar if he kept batting at No.6 because you get a handful of balls to play,” Ganguly was quoted as saying in Sports Tak.

“There was Challenger Trophy, he scored a hundred for my team while opening the batting, so I knew it,” he stated. “A player is made when you send him up the order, you can’t make a player by playing him lower down the order. I always believe you can’t become a big cricketer by sitting inside the dressing room.

“The kind of abilities, especially the six-hitting prowess he had, was rare. He changed his towards the end of his career but when the raw MS Dhoni arrived, it was very important to make him free,” he added.

In 2005, Dhoni also smacked an unbeaten 183 against Sri Lanka at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium in Jaipur, batting at number three. However, after 2009, he never batted in that position, despite averaging 82.75 at number three with 993 runs from 17 matches. On August 15, after serving Team India for 16 years, Dhoni eventually retired from the highest level.