6 Indian cricketers who got ignored under the captaincy of MS Dhoni

MS Dhoni is undoubtedly the best captain of all time ever played the game. He captained the Indian team for almost a decade. During his tenure as the captain, the Indian side achieved almost every feat in international cricket. He won all the major international tournaments during his stint as captain including T20 World Cup, ODI World Cup, and the Champions Trophy.

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Other than these tournaments, the 40-year-old also led India to become the number one team in Test cricket. Many players emerged as world-class international cricketers under the leadership of Dhoni. But there are also some Indian players who could have to make it large if they had to get more chances in Dhoni’s captaincy.

So, here we’ll have a look at the six players who couldn’t more deserve matches under MS Dhoni.

Yusuf Pathan

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The explosive and aggressive batter from Baroda is famous for his hard-hitting intent in the middle order. Whereas he also had the capability of taking some important wickets with his off-spin. He made his first international appearance for the Indian team in the 2007 men’s T20 World Cup final where he scored a quick knock of 15 runs against Pakistan.

He also impressed everyone with his stellar performances in the inaugural edition of the Indian T20 League in 2008. Rajasthan had picked Pathan in their team for that season and he went on to stun the strongest bowling attacks in the tournament. It was also the time when he was a part of plans for the Indian team.

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But he didn’t get regular chances after his appearance in the ODI World Cup of 2011. Considering his caliber, it can be said that he may have reached more milestones.

Piyush Chawla

Piyush Chawla played his first international match in 2006 when he was only 17. His first international match was a Test match against England. The leg spinner later improved with his bowling and went on to become the World Champion spinner. He was also a part of the 15-member side of the Indian team that participated in the historic inaugural edition of the T20 World Cup in 2007.

Notably, he was the only member of the squad who didn’t play a single match in the entire tournament. But since then, Chawal had become a permanent part of the team till the 2011 World Cup triumph. Even he could get a chance to play only in a few of the group stage matches of the World Cup.

It was also the beginning of the time when the management and skipper MS Dhoni marginalized the leggie. It was also due to the fact some other talented spinners were arising at that time.

Munaf Patel

The pace bowler who always went under credit for the performances he really deserved. He made his first international appearance for the Indian team at the age of 22 in 2006. Patel impressed with his medium-pace bowling also got a bit of support from the then captain of the team Rahul Dravid.

He was also part of a team that participated in the 2007 ODI World Cup. In that World Cup, the Indian team was eliminated only in the group stage of the tournament. Later on, he also became the World Champion pacer in the 2011 World Cup in India. He played a crucial role in the semi-final against Pakistan by scalping the wickets of Mohammed Hafeez and Abdul Razzaq.

But, Pathan also fell prey to the ignorance of the management and the then skipper MS Dhoni and he couldn’t play that many matches.

Robin Uthappa

Robin Uthappa started his international career for India when he was only 20 and stunned everyone with an inning of 86 runs in the ODI match against England in April 2006. Then onwards, he appeared regularly for the Indian team and the management included him in the squads of both 50-over and 20-over World Cup of 2007.

Even after MS Dhoni took charge of captaincy, he gave some fair chances in the team. Uthappa played a vital role in India’s title triumph in the 2007 T20 World Cup and the win in the CB series in Australia in 2008.

But after some time, he missed fixing his spot in the team as the team had got some new batters including the likes of Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli.

Manoj Tiwary

The cricketing talent that never got the deserved limelight. After making his February in 2008 against Australia in Brisbane, he couldn’t cement his berth in the team for the next three years. He continued playing domestic cricket during this period.

Then, came the year 2011, when he got a chance in the Indian team in the ODI series against West Indies. He scored an amazing century with India and ended on a score line of 1-2 in the series. But unfortunately, this player of the match award and century couldn’t prove enough for him to secure his berth in the team.

Irfan Pathan

The star all-rounder who went overshadowed during the captaincy era of MS Dhoni. He made it to the headlines of the cricketing fraternity when he scalped the wicket of Adam Gilchrist with a clean bowl just at the age of 19 during the Adelaide Test in December 2003.

Since then, he always got the tag of ‘next big thing’ in the cricketing scenario of England and earned the trust and respect of the former Indian skipper Sourav Ganguly and Rahul Dravid. He was also in the World Cup winning team of India in the T20 World Cup 2007. But he couldn’t get the deserved chances under the leadership of MS Dhoni.