‘Right Kind Of Guy At That Time’: Sanjay Manjrekar Lauds MS Dhoni For Bringing In Winning Mindset

Cricketer turned commentator Sanjay Manjrekar was featured on Pranav Gandhi’s show, SportifyWithPRG, where he shared his school of thoughts on India’s finest players. He also spoke about India’s chances at the upcoming Border-Gavaskar Trophy alongside reciting a few memories during his playing days.

According to Manjrekar, former India skipper MS Dhoni was the one who laid the foundation of his side’s winning attitude in international cricket. As of now, the Indian cricket team holds the first spot in the World Test Championships (WTC) points table and is only 3 runs away in their upcoming 8 Test matches to make it to the third back-to-back finals.

 “He changed the way India played cricket, that transition happened where Dhoni was a facilitator. He wanted the team to win, India started chasing better in limited-overs cricket … just the right kind of guy at that time,” Manjrekar told about Dhoni.

MS Dhoni guided the Indian team to lift their maiden T20 World Cup title in 2007 and they did it after a long wait of 17 years when they clinched the T20 World Cup trophy in 2024 under the leadership of Rohit Sharma. Dhoni also helped the Indian team win the 2011 ODI World Cup after 28 years.

After being asked about who was the most talented player, Manjrekar said, “Has to be Tendulkar on pure talent. At 16, a guy who just took a couple of months to get used to the highest level is just incredible. And very soon, started dominating inside one or two years, and a genuine 16-year-old. Nobody comes close when it comes to sheer talent”.

While talking about the upcoming Border Gavaskar Trophy, the former India cricketer said, “This series might just be a little more competitive than the last two tours, where Indian cricket reached a new high when they beat Australia. The Indian batting will, I think, decide the fate of the series.”