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How Did MS Dhoni Make It to the Indian Squad Despite Rahul Dravid Keeping Wickets? Dinesh Karthik Chimes In

Originally posted on FirstSportz  |  By Manan Mehta  |  Last updated Sep 9, 2025 7:10 PM ET

MS Dhoni retired from international cricket back in 2019, but his stories keeping doing the rounds daily. One of Dhoni’s contemporaries and ex-Indian teammate Dinesh Karthik has often been in awe of the fellow wicketkeeper and has hailed him as one of India’s greatest often.

To add to that, Karthik recently also named MS Dhoni in his all-time India T20 XI. Karthik in an interview with India Today, recently opened up on Dhoni citing what he felt made his standout early on.

Dhoni had caught the eyeballs in the India A series in Kenya just before his India debut. Many had praised him as one of the most powerful hitters India has seen, and Dinesh Karthik was no exception to that perception. Karthik mentioned how Dhoni was compared to Garry Sobers who was famously known for the six massive and consecutive sixes he had hit in a county game.

Back then, India was using Rahul Dravid as the wicketkeeper, but Dravid had reached a point where he said, ‘Boss, I just want to focus on my batting. My body’s going through a lot trying to keep wickets.’ So, the team started looking for a proper wicketkeeper. I stepped in briefly like a guest appearance in a movie, but the lead role was always meant for Dhoni and when he arrived, he didn’t just impress India, he completely swept everyone off their feet. Very soon, he was making waves in international cricket as well.

Dinesh Karthik added

Indian legend Rahul Dravid had stepped into wicket keeping for India as the team had to create space for the talented Mohammad Kaif. However, as Karthik narrates with time Dravid wanted to get rid of the wicket-keeping gloves and India were in search of a wicketkeeper. Karthik mentioned that he had a brief stint, as well.

However, it was not only Karthik, but there were also many like Parthiv Patel, Deep Dasgupta and others. Dhoni though, with his powerful batting and fast hands eventually won the spot in the side and kept it for a long time. Soon with some incredible performances in international cricket particularly ODI cricket, Dhoni stole the imagination of the world and became a global superstar.

Dinesh Karthik backs Gautam Gambhir’s decision of not picking Shreyas Iyer

With the Asia Cup in sight and the T20 World Cup not far away either there is a lot of talk about which players will make the cut. India batter Shreyas Iyer has impressed with his consistency and captaincy in the IPL taking two different franchises to the final in two years. He also had a breakout 600+ run season this year.

Despite such great numbers he hasn’t got a look into the T20 team for a while now. Dinesh Karthik in his interview with India Today mentioned how he felt Iyer’s exclusion was justified and back Gautam Gambhir for his decision.

Look, Shreyas Iyer has done everything and more a player can do. But if you see the last 20 matches that India have played since Gambhir has taken over, 17 they have won. So as a coach, I’m assuming that he has certain players he’s looking at who have delivered results for him. If he has to make the hard choice of leaving certain players out, I can understand.

Dinesh Karthik stated

Karthik highlighted India’s impeccable record in T20I cricket since Gambhir took over as coach. The team has one each of the four series they have played and will now step into their first multinational tournament. Considering such fine records Karthik understands that coach Gambhir would not want to tinker with the team.

This article first appeared on FirstSportz and was syndicated with permission.

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