"Maybe it was the honesty" - When MS Dhoni opened up on the big decision to pick him as India captain ahead of some seniors

When Mahendra Singh Dhoni was named India's captain by the BCCI selectors in 2007, the move met with mixed response. The Men in Blue had suffered a disastrous early exit from the ODI World Cup under Rahul Dravid and hence decided to go for a young leader in Dhoni for the inaugural T20 World Cup.

While some fans and critics welcomed the decision, the move also had its fair share of critics. The polarized opinions were understandable as Team India had a few experienced names in the likes of Yuvraj Singh, Harbhajan Singh and Virender Sehwag, among others.

During an interaction with The Print back in November 2017, Dhoni shared his personal thoughts on the decision to elevate him to the leadership role. He opined:

"That is again a very difficult one because a lot of senior players would have supported me. I was not part of the conversation when I was made captain of the team. I feel that looking at everything, maybe it was the honesty that I had and my ability to read the game."

The veteran keeper-batter added that he was on good terms with most of the other members of the Indian team at that time (2007). He believed that the rapport he shared with players might have played a role in him being assigned the top job.

"Reading the game is very important, and even though I was one of the youngest in the team at that point of time - when asked about my views by a senior player - I was not afraid or hesitant to share my feelings about the game. It probably also had to do with the fact that I was quite good with the other team members in the squad at that point of time," Dhoni added.

Under the Ranchi-born legend, Team India registered some famous wins in ICC events in white-ball cricket. He led the Men in Blue to victory in the 2007 T20 World Cup, 2011 ODI World Cup and the 2013 Champions Trophy.

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MS Dhoni's record as Team India captain

Dhoni holds the record of having registered the most wins in international cricket by an Indian captain. He led India in 332 matches across formats, winning 178 games and losing 120. Six matches were tied, 15 ended in a draw, while 13 matches produced no result.

As a batter, the 43-year-old was part of 538 matches across the three formats. He amassed 17,266 runs at an average of 44.96, with 16 hundreds and 108 half-centuries to his name.