|| Desk Report ||

Former Chennai Super Kings (CSK) batsman S Badrinath has revealed that MS Dhoni was not the first choice captain for the franchise in the inaugural edition of the IPL. It was former India opener Virender Sehwag who was the frontrunner in this case.

While speaking on his YouTube channel, Badrinath has said that CSK wanted Sehwag as the captain, but the swashbuckling opener decided to play for Delhi in the league.

“The management agreed for him to play in Delhi, thinking it would be better. Then came the auctions, and they saw who was the better player, and before that India won the 2007 World T20. And only then did they decide to sign Dhoni,” he shared.

“In 2008, MS Dhoni was the most expensive player, they bought him for INR 6 crores. So this is a story you probably don’t know but Dhoni was picked instead of Sehwag. According to me, MS Dhoni coming to CSK was killing three birds with one stone. One, he is one of the best captains the world has ever seen. There is no trophy that he doesn’t have,” he further added.

“Second, the best finisher. A finisher is a very important part of all the best T20 teams around the world. Even if you see all the good teams today, Mumbai Indians have Pollard, Kolkata Knight Riders have Andre Russell, CSK have MS Dhoni. And third, he is an excellent wicketkeeper. One of the best and safest keepers I have ever seen,” the former player concluded.