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Excerpts from the Interview as
compiled by B.V.Swagath on September 12, 2005
 Mahendra
Singh Dhoni…you have already played some scintillating knocks in
your short career for India, so has the world seen your full
potential yet or there’s much more to come out of you?
Yeah I think I have done reasonably well because my innings of
148 at Vizag was I think I had done almost everything in that.
But the main thing is the consistency levels. So I think the
expectations are very high and I have to score runs at regular
intervals and whenever the team needs. So that’s one point, I
have been working really hard on.
What’s the secret of the 'Dhoni Power'?
I even don’t know the secret because I really don’t do the Gym
works and all. But I started off as a footballer, so the
training I did over there is helping me a lot.
And what about the story
about the 4 litres of milk that you have daily?
Actually it is just a bit exaggerated. I love milk and I just
have 1 litre of milk every day. Previously it used to be just
plain milk, but now its shakes or whatever... like hot
chocolates in any form.
Not
only do you hit those big big sixes, but you also run
excellently between the wickets inspite of the conditions being
hot and humid. So are you a big fitness freak?
I am not really a fitness freak, I think its quite natural for
me, I am from a place where the genes do matter, I am from the
mountains. I am from Almora, Uttaranchal. Basically the genes
are helping me and obviously I am working hard on my fitness
right now with the training schedule given by Gregory King, our
trainer. I am working hard on it but it’s quite natural to me.
One big question now, can Dhoni ever
repeat or play a better innings than the 148 he hit against
Pakistan at Vizag?
Yeah hopefully I am looking forward for it. With the new form of
play that of the powerplays and all, if I get a chance I would
really like to go even 1 run more than the 148. Obviously I like
to get a 150. It’s not easy to repeat this kind of performance
at the international level. But with this powerplay, I think it
can be done. It’s not impossible, if I have done it once, I can
do it once again.
What would happen if a batsman like
Sehwag or Dhoni bat all the 50 Overs in a One Dayer?
I think we would be looking forward for a score of 350 or above.
Easily 350 or more because there are batsmen who are even more
devastating than even Virender Sehwag or myself like Shahid
Afridi, like Adam Gilchrist and they are big hitters at the
international level. With this powerplay rule, 350 would be a
gettable score especially in the sub continent.
 But
what about the individual scores that can be scored by the
Sehwags, Dhonis and others when they bat through all the overs?
I think some players would get the 200 runs mark. It wouldn’t be
very hard I would say, somebody would get it.
Dhoni, now you have played 5 years of
first class cricket and about 1 year of international cricket,
so who has been the most difficult bowler you had faced so far
and the best 6 you hit?
Hmmm…I think the best six, I have hit was in Kenya. I think I
hit a Pakistani medium fast bowler. So I stepped out and hit
him, it was a quite a long six and may be it was a 150 yards six
or even more than that. I think that was the best six and the
best bowler I have faced… I think I have faced lots of them. I
mean I have faced bowlers who are very difficult on different
kinds of tracks. So there are lots of bowlers like that both at
international and domestic level and I wouldn’t like to name any
one of them.
Where was that six, was it over the
covers?
No it was straight down the ground, over the bowler’s head and
over the camera man’s head and over the parking lot and it was
gone.
Could you tell us about your background
and how you have come to this level through the ranks of playing
for small cricketing states like Bihar and Jharkand?
I think I started off as a footballer, I played couple of years
of football and then shifted to Cricket as a school cricketer
playing the schools cricket and I managed to get into the Under
16 Districts and then the Under 19s. We played the U19 finals in
1999-2000 and that was the season, six players of our team
including me made their debut in the Ranji Trophy. 2000-2001, I
played in the Duleep Trophy, Deodhar Trophy, I was very
consistent in the domestic competitions. Last year we had gone
to the India A tour of Kenya and Zimbabwe and that was the
turning point, I performed well over there and got my berth in
the Indian team on the tour of Bangladesh.
Dhoni was under John Wright and now
Dhoni is under Greg Chappell, so has there been any difference
you found in the methodology of the two?
Actually they are two different coaches, definitely there will
be techniques and this and that things that differ from person
to person. Hopefully it’s for the better of the team and
hopefully we will start the next series with a positive note and
definitely win some finals in the Tri Series that are coming up.
Talking about finals, what was it like in the Indian dressing
room after going down in yet another final?
We were not feeling well you could say that. Because we had
given them a good target of 277. But they started off well, they
played well and we came back and then lost. We gave them a good
fight but obviously would have loved to have won that game.
What are the things that you want to
improve in your game currently?
Both…my batting and my wicket keeping. There are points like I
would love to improve my keeping especially against the
spinners. Like we have quality spinners like Harbhajan and Anil
Bhai, so it’s really difficult to keep them particularly when
they are bowling in the rough. So that’s one part you can say.
Of course batting, I have been shifted a lot in the batting
order, so the more I play, the more I would get used to the
batting slots like batting at 6 or 7 or 3 or even opening. So
lots and lots of things that are going on in my head…
Many people actually raise their
eyebrows watching your footwork while batting. So do you think
you can handle the best of the best bowlers in the future?
I think time is the best thing that can say about it. But I
don’t think I can change much about it because that’s how I got
into the international level and I think I would continue with
that.
19 One Day Internationals and 525 runs,
where do you think you are heading towards in your career?
Aaah…hopefully I would love to score as many runs as possible in
the One Dayers. Obviously I love to score some runs at the Test
Level too.
How do you spend your day when you are
not having any cricket to play?
Actually I love music, I love driving particularly bikes. I love
my bikes, I love playing computer games, I play quite a bit of
badminton when I get time. But I love bikes more than anything.
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