'I Want to Make You a Bollywood Hero' – Former India opener recalls first meeting with MS Dhoni

Former India opener Shikhar Dhawan has opened up about his early days in international cricket in his newly launched memoir, The One: Cricket, My Life, and More. In the book, Dhawan shares an interesting and previously unheard anecdote about his very first interaction with then-India captain MS Dhoni. The meeting took place during Dhawan’s ODI debut series in 2010 against Australia. Recalling the moment he entered the Indian dressing room for the first time, Dhawan was struck by Dhoni’s appearance and charm.

Describing Dhoni’s look at the time, Dhawan wrote, “I wanted to cast him in a Bollywood movie; he looked like a film star with that long hair and easy smile. We were having a chat about my motivation when I suddenly blurted out, ‘I want to play for India, and I want to make you a Bollywood hero!’ He threw back his head and laughed.” Dhawan eventually made his Test debut three years later in 2013, also under Dhoni’s leadership, where he famously scored a blistering 187 against Australia.

Dhawan also reflected on his debut ODI series in October 2010. Although he was excited to finally don the India jersey, fate had different plans. The first match in Kochi and the third game in Margao were both washed out. Dhawan got his chance in the second ODI but was dismissed for a two-ball duck. “Before the first match in Kochi, there was so much nervous energy bubbling inside me that I could not sleep the whole night… But when I got up in the morning, it was raining heavily, and all my hopes turned to naught. No action was possible that day,” he recalled.

A Glimpse Into Cricket's Less Digital Past

Dhawan further reflected on how the media landscape during his early playing days was very different compared to now. “When I was trying to break into the Indian side, social media was still nascent, and cricketers were under a lot less scrutiny,” he noted. He explained that while print and television media still followed the sport intensely, the pace of public opinion was not as rapid or volatile as it is in today’s online-driven world.

“Team selections and individual cricket performances were discussed threadbare and had gained sufficient audience in the country. However, unlike the current times in which social media can transform cricketers from ‘hero’ to ‘zero’ almost overnight, narratives took a lot longer to change back in those days,” Dhawan wrote. Despite the early struggles, he went on to become India’s top scorer in the 2013 Champions Trophy and ended his career with 2315 Test runs, 6793 in ODIs, and 1759 in T20Is.