“Ready to play under the most junior player”: Rajeev Shukla explains how Sachin Tendulkar refused captaincy and Dhoni became skipper

BCCI Vice President and veteran administrator Rajeev Shukla revealed on Ranveer Allahabadia’s podcast that Sachin Tendulkar was ready to play under the most junior of players after declining the captaincy offer. That’s when the board chose to consider MS Dhoni as the skipper in 2007 and handed him the reigns for the 2007 T20 World Cup. 

“When Dhoni was being given the captaincy, I was involved in that process,” Shukla told on the podcast. 

“Sharad Powar ji was also there, and he asked me to talk to Sachin Tendulkar. Let’s make him [Tendulkar] captain. 

“At that time it had rained a lot and it was flooding so I was stuck in Mumbai. I told Sachin about being the captain and he said he’ll consider and let me know after talking to his family. The next day he called and refused our offer to be captain. However, Powar Sahab was very keen to make him the captain.

“Meanwhile, Sachin declined the captaincy and said that I’m ready to play under the most junior player. That’s when Board moved towards Dhoni.”

When asked what worked in Dhoni’s favour, Shukla revealed that it was young Dhoni’s dedication and maturity that worked in his favour. 

“Young Dhoni had immense dedication and used to work really hard,” Shukla said. 

“We had seen him being a young energetic player and he was a really mature guy. So we gave the captaincy to him.”