Mumbai: Former India Test skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni initially wanted to dribble, or be the custodian, standing between the woodwork. But things took a turn when Keshav Ranjan Banerjee – one of his coaches in MECON ground in Ranchi – spotted a wicket-keeper in the aspiring goalkeeper.
“He caught my eye in 1991 when he was a footballer. I shifted his focus to cricket and turned him into a full-fledged cricketer by 1999. Regarding his retirement, I feel he is not patient enough to play for five days at a stretch,” said Banerjee, who believes his student got captaincy by virtue of his luck.
“Though he did a good job but he is his own boss. If he wants to do something, he will and if he doesn’t, he won’t think twice about it. If India doesn’t win the ICC World Cup in 2015, he may retire from ODIs too,” he added.
Though Banerjee called the Indian ODI captain an introvert, a man of few words, Sudarshan De – one of the youngsters of the MECON coaching club, also junior to Dhoni in DAV School, Shyamali – said: “Mahi had a terrific sense of humour. I heard this story from my seniors in the club that once he was being linked with Bollywood actress Deepika Padukone by the media which he did not like.
After a practice session at the ground, he said, ‘Had there been something with Deepika, I would not be sitting in Ranchi.’ He is witty and also the most humble superstar I know,” said the 24-year-old.
