Here's what Sourav Ganguly, Rahul Dravid did for MS Dhoni rise, says Virender Sehwag

New Delhi: Former India opener Virender Sehwag on Sunday credited ex-captain Sourav Ganguly for developing wicket-keeper batsman Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s performance in cricket.

"We were experimenting with the batting order at that time. We decided that if we get a good opening partnership then Sourav Ganguly would come at No.3 but if we had a bad opening stand then we would send pinch hitters like Irfan Pathan or Dhoni to accelerate the scoring rate,” the 38-year-old Sehwag was quoted saying to India TV.

The former Delhi batsman also spoke about why Ganguly had promoted Dhoni at number three for some matches.

"Ganguly at that time decided to give Dhoni a chance at No.3 for three or four matches.

" There are very few captains who would first give away his own batting spot for Virender Sehwag and then his set spot of No.3 for Dhoni. Had Dada (Ganguly) not done that, Dhoni would not have become such a great player. Ganguly always believed in giving chances to new players," he stated.

Dhoni, who made his international debut against Bangladesh in an ODI in 2004, has represented India in 475 international matches across the three formats.

Sehwag also stressed on how former India batsman Rahul Dravid made the Jharhand-born cricketer a better cricketer and a finisher of matches.

"During Rahul Dravid's captaincy, Dhoni got the role of a finisher. He got out a couple of times playing a bad shot and he was also reprimanded by Dravid during one instance. But from that instance, he completely changed his approach and became a very good finisher. The kind of partnerships he had with Yuvraj Singh are memorable," the right-handed batsman concluded.