Had become a fan of Dhoni’s power
Prakash Poddar, who played domestic cricket for Bengal, was sent to Jamshedpur in 2003. At that time BCCI started Talent Scout. Poddar was part of that. After watching Dhoni’s game, Poddar recommended Dhoni’s name for the National Cricket Academy. He wrote about Dhoni – Good striker of the ball, he has a lot of power but needs to work on wicketkeeping. Not very technically sound but very quick to run between the wickets.
Prakash Poddar scored a century in his debut first class match itself. He died on 29 December 2022. He did not get a chance to play for India but played for his state in 74 first class and one List A match.
Dhoni was able to score only 35 runs
Mahendra Singh Dhoni scored only 35 runs in the match that Prakash Poddar had come to watch. But his powerful short caught Poddar’s attention. In an interview, Poddar had said, ‘He scored 35 runs but even at that age, what would he hit the ball. He had the strength and I felt that if we can guide him well, he can become a good ODI cricketer.
Mahendra Singh Dhoni went to NCA. Then got selected in India A team. At that time, Team India did not have such a wicketkeeper who could do wonders with the bat. In such a situation, at the end of 2004, Dhoni got a chance to debut for Team India. He got the captaincy in 2007 and history went on being made.