Veteran and sporting star Sachin Tendulkar capably led the Indian team while also accomplishing significant milestones in his international career. Tendulkar retired from international play after 24 years of service, but with 34,357 runs from T20Is, ODIs, and Tests, he is still the all-time leader in runs scored in all formats.
He has made enormous contributions to the team’s growth both as a captain and as a player in general. Over time, the Indian team has developed into a strong opponent. The squad has had a number of captains after his retirement, but none have been able to match the talent of former India captain MS Dhoni. Tendulkar, who represented India while Dhoni served as captain as well, explained why he proposed the wicketkeeper-batter for the position of captain.
When MS Dhoni took over as India’s captain for the first time in 2007, the team included notable players such as Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly, Rahul Dravid, and Virender Sehwag, to name a few. But the seniors made the decision to give the juniors a chance before the first T20 World Cup. Tendulkar chose Dhoni as his captain when the Indian board (BCCI) requested him at the time.
“This was in England when I was offered captaincy. I said we have a very good leader in the team who was still a junior, and he is someone you should look at closely. I have had a lot of conversations with him, more so on the field where I would field at first slip and ask him, what do you think? Though Rahul was the captain, I would ask him (Dhoni) and the feedback I received was very balanced, calm, yet very much matured,” Tendulkar said in an Infosys event.
Tendulkar, Dravid, VVS Laxman, Sehwag, Harbhajan Singh, and Zaheer Khan were among the experienced players in the Indian team in 2008 when Dhoni was named Test captain. Tendulkar was a part of the Indian squad that Dhoni led to the 2011 World Cup victory. When Tendulkar participated in his final international Test match in Mumbai in 2013, Dhoni served as the team’s captain.
“Good captaincy is about being a step ahead of the opposition. If one is smart enough to do that, as we say, josh se nahi, hosh se khelo (play sensibly). It doesn’t happen instantly, you won’t get 10 wickets in 10 balls. You have to plan it. At the end of the day, the scoreboard matters. And I saw those qualities in him. Hence, I recommended his name,” the legendary cricketer added.