Syed Kirmani reveals how he and Pranab Roy selected MS Dhoni to play for the East Zone

MS Dhoni had some tough initial years in the domestic cricket before he got proper opportunities to play for the Indian team. Many selectors stayed away from Dhoni because Jharkhand wasn’t a very famous team back then.

Selectors wouldn’t always look for young talents from many parts of the country. However, it was Dhoni came out from Ranchi and then, later on, went on to become the Indian team captain.

In the biographical film on the wicketkeeper, MS Dhoni: the untold story, it was shown that Dhoni missed out on an opportunity to play for East Zone. Former Indian wicketkeeper, Syed Kirmani revealed that it was he and Pranab Roy, the two selectors of East Zone who first selected him in the side. Kirmani said that that he did Dhoni after looking at his batting record and not considering his keeping.

Without even seeing him keep wickets, I suggested Dhoni’s name: Syed Kirmani

“I have never disclosed this before but here is how Dhoni was picked. I and Pranab Roy – my co-selector from East Zone – were watching a Ranji Trophy match. I’m not sure which match it was since it was a long time ago, but Pranab Roy is proof. He said to me ‘there is this keeper batsman from Jharkhand, who is a very promising youngster and deserves selection’,” Kirmani told Hindustan Times.

Kirmani was the selector of East Zone. The moment in the biography of Dhoni showed that he couldn’t go for a match which was to be played in Agartala. This happened because he got the information about his selection quite late.

“I asked him ‘is he keeping wickets in this match?’ Pranab said ‘no but he is fielding at fine leg.’ That is when I got Dhoni’s stats from the last two years to look into. And Wow! There was terrific consistency in his batting ability. Without even seeing him keep wickets, I suggested that Dhoni be selected for East Zone straightaway. And the rest is history,” Kirmani added.

After spending some really tough seasons with Jharkhand and East Zone, the stylish batsman was selected for the India A side. After that, he was selected for the Indian team.