4 Indian stalwarts who owe their careers to Sourav Ganguly

#2 M.S. Dhoni

The former Indian skipper was spotted by Ganguly.

Arguably India's greatest white-ball captain and the greatest finisher the world has ever seen, M.S. Dhoni's story is the stuff of legends, for having risen from a ticket-collector to a trophy-collector.

Ganguly had heard of him as an unorthodox big-hitting batsman-wicketkeeper in 2002-03. Most people would've wanted to see him bat, before taking a call. Not Ganguly. Dada has himself confirmed that Raju Mukherjee and Prakash Poddar, Talent Research Development Officers appointed by the BCCI, had mentioned Dhoni to them.

Here was a player who could ease the ball into the stands with consummate power and could be a colossal match-winner. When the selectors asked Ganguly whether he'd seen Dhoni, he replied in archetypal fashion:

"No, but I don't want to waste precious time."

The less said about Dhoni, the better it would be. Because the rest, as they say, is history.