‘I told Sourav, this guy has got the gift of hitting the ball hard’

MUMBAI: Sachin Tendulkar was the greatest batsman of his generation bar none, but he may have retired without having won cricket’s biggest trophy, the ODI World Cup, or seeing India as the No.1 Test team in the world. He got both under the leadership of MS Dhoni, who he had first seen as a long-haired rookie making his debut at 23 in Bangladesh. Tendulkar was already into his 15th year in International cricket, and a giant of the game. In this interview, he speaks about what made Dhoni great.

Edited excerpts:

On first seeing Dhoni

I first saw him on the tour of Bangladesh. Sourav (Ganguly) and I had heard that he could hit the ball well. But could he do that in international cricket?

That was our question. On that tour, he didn’t score too many runs, but in the couple of shots he hit, including one boundary he hit to long-off, Dada and I thought that we have spotted something special. I told him, “Dada, this guy has got the gift of hitting the ball hard”.

My first observation was: he has a very strong bat swing and during the impact the transfer of weight is really good; he will be able to generate great power. Power comes from the transfer of weight, the core strength. Lots of people say power comes from the bat swing—and yes, bat swing has to be good, but the lower body has to be strong to generate power. Dhoni had a firm base and having that was the foundation. That stability while you are attacking brings in a lot of power.

When you have a hard-hitting player like him, the sound from the bat is different. I go a lot by that sound. I heard that sound and told Dada, this is different. I head the same thing when Yuvraj (Singh) batted.

On the 2011 WORLD CUP

I saw him grow as a youngster in the team, who climbed a number of mountains and made a huge mark in Indian cricket. He went from strength to strength. The strength that he possessed was calmness. He could keep his cool and soak in the pressure. He has a very active mind, he was a good reader of the game.

In each generation in Indian cricket, the leading players have contributed in their own style, their own manner and inspired a generation. That is where Dhoni fits in without any doubt.

He played many cracker innings. Early on when he got into the team, there was a lot of aggression and then slowly, as the balance of the team changed, he played with controlled-aggression. Each stage of your innings you play different roles and he played them beautifully.

On his best cricket under Dhoni

That partnership (Dhoni as captain, Gary Kirsten as coach) really clicked. We were the No.1 Test team and we won the World Cup. We had almost the same guys—the ones who played the 2007 World Cup and the 2011 World Cup— with just one or two changes. I really enjoyed that period. (2008 to 2011 was Tendulkar’s most productive period since 2000). My intention was to win, and I would do everything possible within my capability to win that game. As and when I felt I could give him my inputs and contribute I did. Eventually, the captain has to take the call. We all took ownership of our roles and it becomes our responsibility to share our experience, to say “this is what we feel”, and then let him pick and choose. Our gameplan was always to provide Dhoni multiple choices. With so many things happening on the field, everyone tries to take the pressure off the captain, and that’s what I tried to do.

The world might think that my favourite ‘MS Dhoni moment’ would be that final over in Johannesburg which helped India win the 2007 World T20 and the Jharkhand boy his first of three ICC titles as captain, but for me it’s the 2011 World Cup.

By winning that match with a cool innings in a pressure situation at the Wankhede, Dhoni realised the dream of millions. I was happy to be part of those millions. It was hardly a surprise for me to see Dhoni take the charge in the final against Sri Lanka, because in 2007 I had seen in him a mature man who never faltered under pressure—the best finisher the world has seen.

The inaugural World T20 in South Africa was Dhoni’s first tournament as captain. And what a start he had! He had no problem giving the young boys a chance to have a go against the top names in world cricket. For me he is the greatest motivator in cricket.

While he played domestic cricket for Jharkhand, I was playing for Haryana. Our paths had crossed many times in domestic cricket, and he knew my qualities as a player going into the World T20, where many of the big names were not playing for India. The way he handled a bunch of new and young cricketers showed the self-confidence he had. He made a plan and he followed it.

Most people remember that I bowled the final of the title clash in 2007, but many don’t remember that I had also bowled the final over in the semi-final against Australia. They needed 22 runs but could score only six and I got two wickets, Brett Lee and Michael Hussey. RP Singh had bowled the second last over in the semi-final and he bowled the second-last over in the final against Pakistan too. It was always following the plan that gave the results for Dhoni.

So, when the time came in the final, Dhoni did not hesitate before giving me the ball. Pakistan needed 13 runs from the last over, and he told me, “don’t think about the runs that they need, think about your bowling. If you get hit, don’t overthink, just concentrate on the next ball. Whatever is the result, be confident you have my support.”

Going into such a tense situation, it’s the biggest support that a bowler can imagine. The final over was close especially after Misbah-ul-haq had hit me for a six off the second ball. But then Sreesanth took that catch and the rest is history.

Today, Dhoni has retired. He must have given it a long thought. He is nearing 40 now. At this age the reflexes get slower. He felt the timing was right and he did it. I wish him all the very best for the future.

SACHIN TENDULKAR, cricket legend