MS Dhoni said two things ‘non-negotiable’ to former fielding coach R Sridhar, led to Sourav Ganguly, Sachin Tendulkar and Virender Sehwag ouster

MS Dhoni was criticized for dropping not-so-fit experienced cricketers like Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly, Virender Sehwag and VVS Laxman during his early captaincy days

CSK captain MS Dhoni. (Photo: BCCI/IPL)

Former India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni gave a new outlook to the Indian cricket team when he took over as captain back in 2007. Dhoni went on to win the 2007 T20 World Cup, 2011 50-over World Cup and 2013 Champions Trophy – the only captain to have all three ICC titles. However, Dhoni’s tenure as skipper was marred by controversies as well because it coincided with the ouster of Indian cricket legends like Sourav Ganguly, Sachin Tendulkar, Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir.

India had some of the greatest cricket players in the form of Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid, Sourav Ganguly, VVS Laxman, Anil Kumble, and many others but were struggling to win major ICC tournaments before Dhoni’s arrival as captain.

Former Team India fielding coach R. Sridhar, who was appointed in 2014, said that Dhoni made it clear that fielding and running between the wickets were two areas that were ‘non-negotiable’ for him. The Chennai Super Kings (CSK) skipper Dhoni was criticized for dropping not-so-fit experienced cricketers during his early captaincy days but he delivered the results.

“MS… when he was captain, he led the fielding. And the running between the wicket was to me, an eye opener. MS said that ‘two things that are non-negotiable for me are fielding and running between the wicket’. And that is something that still holds true. And the kind of emphasis he laid on fielding, Virat (Kohli) took it forward. Ravi (Shastri) always said that the 11 best fielders will take the park. So that is the kind of importance that was laid on fielding,” Sridhar told Cricket (dot) com website.

Indian Captains with Most T20I Runs in Wins :

1102 - Rohit Sharma (SR - 158.33)

984 - Virat Kohli (SR - 146.21)

589 - MS Dhoni (SR - 142.96)

Trust me, Rohit Sharma has scored those runs in just 29 innings while Virat had taken 30 and Dhoni had taken 34 #RohitSharma pic.twitter.com/fPjFM21C6K

— Kartik(Ro45) (@ImKk__45) August 10, 2022

According to Sridhar, Kohli and Ravindra Jadeja have established themselves as the best Indian fielders in the current national team. “Some of the best fielding sessions I have had are with Umesh Yadav, Mohammed Siraj, and Mohit Sharma was a great fielder being a fast bowler. And the usual suspects are Kohli, Jadeja, Manish Pandey… you had fun fielding with them. The guys like Chahal, Kuldeep, and Kedar are the ones who worked really hard on their skills. I really enjoyed working with those guys,” Sridhar added.