REVEALED: How a trip to Zimbabwe in 2004 changed Mahendra Singh Dhoni's career

New Delhi: MS Dhoni's inclusion definitely came as a surprise when BCCI announced India's squad for Zimbabwe.

Over the years, senior players have opted to rest for this tour. Hence Mahi's decision to join the youngsters on this low key tour was rather interesting.

As expected, the Indians made light work of the Zimbabwean challenge in the ODI series.

While there was not much to discuss about the actual contest on the field, Dhoni however made a very interesting comment during one of the off-field events.

During the team's visit to India House in Harare, Dhoni revealed why he considers Zimbabwe a special place.

"Zimbabwe is a special place for me. The reason being, before playing for India, this was the tour (in 2004) which really gave me the chance to go into the limelight and get a chance to play for India. So it is a very special place for me. I have always enjoyed coming here. It is the third time for me," the 34-year-old said.

At the time, Dhoni was part of the India A side that played 3 four-day and one 50-over match Zimbabwe Select XI and Zimbabwe A in 2004.

The dashing wicketkeeper-batsman featured in two of those and managed to impress the selectors.

In the second four-day match, Dhoni had 7 catches, 4 stumpings and 45 runs (1st innings).

In the one-off fifty over match, Dinesh Karthik was the wicketkeeper and Dhoni played a batsman.

Opening with Gautam Gambhir, Mahi managed to score just 1 run.

India A however won all the four matches in that series and BCCI spotted a bright prospect in the Jharkhand lad.