Who discovered Mahendra Singh Dhoni?

         Have you ever wondered how Mahendra Singh Dhoni came into the international scene out of nowhere and dazzled with his stunning captaincy and game? If not, here is the account: 

Prakash Poddar, a Talent Research Development Officer (TRDO) - which was functional in the BCCI during the time of Dilip Vengsarkar, spotted Dhoni in 2003.

In 2003, Poddar took a train to catch Kolkata vs Jamshedpur clash, which was of little significance. Poddar went there simply because he had been assigned to watch an under-19 match in Jamshedpur.

Recalling the entire episode, Poddar said, “Mahendra Singh Dhoni was a shy kid. Jyaada baat cheet nahi karta tha. He was after all from Jharkhand, not a cricketing power in domestic cricket, and he wasn’t from a rich family either. He kept to himself.”

“He scored 35 runs but even in that age kya maarta tha ball ko. He had raw power and I felt that if we could guide him well, he could become a good one-day cricketer. But who knew he was destined for such greatness,” he said. 

A TRDO is responsible to attend matches and fill out a form in which they would mention whether the batsman was right-handed or left-handed, if he bowled – pace, spin, swing. At the bottom of the form, there used to be an empty box called recommendations. For most players, this box remained empty.

But for Dhoni, Poddar wrote, “Good striker of the ball; has a lot of power but needs to work on his wicket-keeping. Technically not very good. Is very good at running between wickets.”

Poddar continues, “I felt that if we could regularize the way he used his power, then he would be of some value to Indian cricket. And that is why I recommended him to the National Cricket Academy.”

Vengsarkar, who headed the TRDO committee, stated, “Once a player was recommended, I would go and watch him. It was a lot of matches and a lot of hard work but we were all driven by just one thing: to discover talent that was capable of shining on the international scene."

“There was a lot of talent out there and much of it was flashy. But the deciding factor for me was temperament. If you have that, you will continue to improve,” he added.

By 2003-04, Dhoni was included in India’s A team for Zimbabwe and Kenya tours. A good run in another series against Pakistan A and Kenya attracted Sourav Ganguly and Ravi Shastri. Also, a brilliant innings of 102 off 96 balls, during the Challenger Trophy in Mumbai saw him getting called up for India.

Poddar is extremely proud of what he discovered back in 2003, “Today, he is, to my mind, the greatest player India has ever seen. When we consider where he is coming from and where he has reached, there is no one else who compares. Even now he seems extremely humble and I am happy that I could play a part – as small as it was.”

“But you can see how hard he has worked. His wicket-keeping is now very solid. Then his footwork behind the wickets wasn’t as good but now, he knows exactly what he is doing. And his batting – what can I say – it has turned out to be even better than I could imagine.”

While Dhoni rocketed to heights, Poddar saw his career with the BCCI come to an abrupt end. He was in TRDO for just one year, after that the BCCI never called him again. 

But Poddar has no qualms about it, “Well, at least I managed to give Indian cricket Dhoni. That’s something and that’s my salvation.”