Dhoni inspired generations to pick up the bat

I FIRST SAW Mahendra Singh Dhoni in 2004, in his ODI debut series in Bangladesh. Before that, people had spoken about him, but I had not seen him at all. There was a general buzz about him—that he can hit big in domestic cricket. But whether he could hit the same way in international cricket was yet to be seen.

- Neeru Bhatia

I remember a couple of shots he played against Bangladesh. Sourav Ganguly was sitting next to me. I told Sourav: “Iss player ke bat swing mein kuch alag hai (there is something different about his bat swing), there is something special.” Dhoni had not scored many runs (12), but by one shot he hit, you could make out that he had the ability; one could judge from the sound of the bat hitting the ball. I had also seen him in the nets. To hit well in the nets and to do so in the match are quite different tasks. But, he did it.

For me, his biggest impact on Indian cricket is that he has inspired children to pick up the bat, take up the game and be like him. If you see every generation, there have been players who have motivated youngsters to do what they did. His name will be on that list. That is his contribution to Indian cricket.