What MS Dhoni Told Shubman Gill After His Disastrous One-Day International Debut

On Friday, in a stunning turn of events, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) fired chief selector Chetan Sharma along with the rest of the senior selection committee he had been leading. The Council posted calls for applicants for national selectors on social media. The submission deadline has been extended to November 28. MS Dhoni, India’s former captain, is widely considered to be a famous captain in cricket. As captain, batsman, and keeper, he was able to completely dominate the opponent, and he became his team’s perfect go-to guy in the process. If the Indian cricket team had a leader, he would have been the one they would have chosen.

Numerous cricketers have spoken publicly about the manner in which MS Dhoni has been a pillar of support for them in times of need, and how approachable he has always been in the Indian and Chennai Super Kings locker rooms.

New to the chorus of MS Dhoni apologists is young Indian opener Shubman Gill. In a recent visit on a chat programme, Gill told a story about Dhoni’s ODI debut that has now gone viral online.

Well, on Sonam Bajwa’s talk show “Dil Diyan Gallan,” Shubman Gill recalled feeling devastated after being dismissed so early in the game. In 2004, during a tour of Bangladesh, he had his first international appearance. He was removed for a golden duck. Dhoni walked over to him and reminded him of this. Dhoni had not even turned to face the ball before he was subbed off. What he said was:

“On the day of my debut, I was dismissed with India about 15 points.” I was sitting outside, dejected after scoring only nine runs in my debut. So Mahi bhai arrived to see that I was in distress. I was between 18 and 19 years old. He informed me that at least your debut was superior to mine. I realised he was dismissed in his debut for golden duck. He did not face a single ball before being dismissed. Then he began laughing and joking, and I was moved by this act.