“MS Dhoni would never say he made Rohit Sharma’s career” - S Sreesanth hails humble Indian legend

Former India pacer S Sreesanth has hailed MS Dhoni for his humble nature. He stated that despite playing a significant role in the success of big names like Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli, Dhoni would never take credit for the same.

Sreesanth was part of both the Indian squads that won the World Cup under Dhoni - 2007 [T20] and 2011 [ODI]. Apart from Sreesanth, Dhoni also groomed a number of other players like Suresh Raina and Ravichandran Ashwin during their early days in international cricket.

Rohit has openly credited Dhoni for asking him to bat at the top of the order in ODIs, which he described as a “career-changing move”. In an interview with Sportskeeda, Sreesanth commented that knowing Dhoni, he would never boast about it.

“MS Dhoni would never say he made Rohit Sharma’s career. I know him really well. We can say that because Dhoni gave him an opportunity. Why did he give him an opportunity? Because he knew that at that number he will do well. Be it Raina, Virat or Ashwin for that matter," he said.

"Mahi bhai has played a big role even in my career, everybody’s career. Nobody can change that. But why did he do that? Because he knew that if he supports those players, they will go to the next level. Maybe he gave the support to us that he himself didn’t get,” the 40-year-old added.

Rohit’s ODI career flourished after Dhoni asked him to open the batting with Shikhar Dhawan. In 165 matches as an opener, the 36-year-old has smashed 8082 runs at an average of 55.35, with 28 hundreds.

---

“He has won the best franchise tournament many times” - Sreesanth on Rohit the captain

While Rohit has had a mixed record as captain since taking over as full-time leader of the Indian team, Sreesanth doesn’t see any reason for a debate. He pointed out the fact that the batter has led Mumbai Indians (MI) to five title wins in the Indian Premier League (IPL).

“Regarding captaincy, I wouldn’t say much because he has won the best franchise tournament many times. He will keep winning. That’s the kind of team and management that they have. As a person, he is one of the best to hang around,” Sreesanth said.

Under Rohit, India reached the semi-final of the 2022 T20 World Cup but got hammered by England by 10 wickets. They also made the final of the 2023 World Test Championship (WTC) but lost to Australia by 209 runs.