MS Dhoni generally doesn’t talk about Sachin Tendulkar due to shyness he feels speaking about his idol. He, however, admits that his honest opinions on the field, about team strategy and occasional differences with the Master Blaster, might have actually landed him the captaincy in 2007.
“Tendulkar is my sporting hero and because of the aura he carries, I still have difficulties speaking up to him outside a cricket field. But on field, I always give my honest inputs about team strategy,” Dhoni said.
“Tendulkar and I used to discuss team strategies on the field. If I am convinced I would even disagree with him and that happened quiet often. I think my honesty has paid dividends when he recommended me for captaincy,” he said.
“Even if I had not been made the captain, it was still a huge thing that Tendulkar had recommended my name for the captaincy,” the Indian captain said at the launch of a book titled ‘Tendulkar: the Cricketer of the Century’. Tendulkar, who was also present at the occasion, left soon after the release.
Dhoni revealed that when he met Tendulkar for the first time, more than 10 years back, he could not speak to him but ended up serving the veteran batsman drinks on the field.
“I think that was in a Duleep Trophy match in Pune in 2000-01 or 2001-02. I was in East Zone squad and was carrying drinks. Tendulkar made 199 in that match and he was batting when I went into the field to serve drinks to my teammates. Suddenly, he asked me ‘Can I also have a drinkIJ’
“That was my first meeting with Tendulkar, my idol. I did not speak any word to him and just served him a drink,” Dhoni said.
Asked about his first interaction with Tendulkar, Dhoni said, “That was in December 2004 when India toured Bangladesh. I first spoke to him, he said, ‘Hi How are youIJ’ while welcoming me in the team.
“That tour ended in five days. There was the whole team, Tendulkar was sitting at the middle of a long table, Dada (Sourav Ganguly) and Rahul (Dravid) bhai was also there. I was told to make a speech in front of them, standing up on a chair,” Dhoni said.
He said it was difficult to converse with Tendulkar initially while in the Indian team but became comfortable as time wore on.
“Before bowling (mostly in ODIs) Tendulkar would come up to me and say he would bowl off-spin or leg-spin or seam up. I would say okay at times and at other times would disagree with him. So, by the time I became captain, I was able to speak to him freely on the field,” he said.
Known as somebody who is difficult to be reached even by his teammates, Dhoni said that it would be difficult to maintain friendship with Tendulkar after retirement. “It is still difficult to speak up to him outside a cricket field. So, it will be difficult to remain friends with Tendulkar after retirement. May be I can speak to him about cars or bikes,” he said.
