MS Dhoni did not lead India in its first T20I. | Photo credit: IANS
Highlights
- India played their first T20I against South Africa in 2006
- Less than a year after their T20I debut, India won the inaugural edition of the T20 World Cup
- MS Dhoni was not the captain of the team that played the country’s first T20I in 2006
On December 1, 2006, Team India made their T20I debut against South Africa in Johannesburg. The Men in Blue performed extremely well in the years to come and beat Pakistan in the first T20 World Cup final in September 2007 to lift the trophy. While many senior players were not part of the ICC event, a few of them played India’s first T20I.
Sachin Tendulkar and Dinesh Mongia were among those who participated in India’s first T20I. And surprisingly, MS Dhoni did not lead India in its first T20I. Yes, the only Indian skipper to have won the T20 World Championship to date, Dhoni was not in the management squad at the time and played as a wicket-beater keeper in that match. So who led the Men in Blue?
Longtime Dhoni deputy Virender Sehwag led the team for India’s first T20I. The coaches decided to change the management group ahead of T20 WC and handed the load to Dhoni, who then replaced Rahul Dravid as ODI captain.
While Sehwag remained a member of the steering group in all formats, he never had the chance to lead India again in T20I. But, he donned the captain’s cap in 12 ODI and 4 Tests.
Speaking of T20I, India won the match chasing a goal of 127 in the match’s penultimate delivery. The captain led forward and scored 34. Sehwag ended his career as T20I captain with a winning percentage of 100. He played a total of 19 T20Is, with his last appearance against SA in WC 2012.
The former opener from India was part of the winning team at the T20 World Championship in 2007 but was left out of the final. 4 years later he was part of the team led by Dhoni which won the World Cup at 50 in 2011. Speaking of the tour, India lost the Test series 1-2 and suffered a 0 loss. -4 in the ODI five-game series.
