Nitish Kumar Reddy has been the new invention for India in the longest format of the game. So many questions were raised when he was picked by their current head coach of the side, Gautam Gambhir, even with not many red-ball games under his belt, before the opening Test of the Border Gavaskar Trophy 2024-25. All of these are based on the instincts.
This is the same case that happened with two of the veteran players of India in the past, Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma, the two stars of their batting department across formats. But they might not have played international cricket if they didn’t get help from a former captain of the Blue Brigade.
Rohit wasn’t even considered in the Mumbai side, while Kohli was not among the discussions in the team management when Dilip Vengsarkar, the then-chairman of the selectors, spotted them and backed his thought process to keep the players before losing his job to another cricketer favored by then BCCI treasurer N Srinivasan.
Vengsarkar showed his full support to Kohli, and that left out the middle-order batter from Tamil Nadu, Subramaniam Badrinath. The captain and coach, MS Dhoni and Gary Kirsten were in question.
Also Read: Virat Kohli Supported By Former Openers Amidst Technical Flaw After Poor 1st Innings In Adelaide
The veteran took over the chief selector role for India in 2006 as the former wicket-keeper batter Kiran More left the place on the back of their first-round exit from the 2007 ODI World Cup in the West Indies, which also led to the end of Greg Chappell era.
Vengsarkar was impressed with how Virat led the Indian side during the 2008 U19 World Cup in Malaysia, where they beat South Africa in a heated final to lift the trophy. The Delhi-born smashed 235 runs in six games in the event. He was pushed to get a place in the A side for their four-nation Emerging Players Trophy in Australia.
Dilip Vengsarkar spots current India captain while attending a wedding
The selector traveled with the team to Brisbane to see the next generation of players, where Kohli, getting a chance at the top order, scored a century against New Zealand, and that was enough for him to satisfy the selectors in getting a chance for the Sri Lanka tour and making debut in the absence of Virender Sehwag.
However, he had to convince MS and Kirsten quite hard as the biggest resentment came from Srinivasan, who wanted to go with Badrinath, the then Chennai Super Kings and TN player, scoring truck-loaded runs in the domestic circuit. Srinivasan took the matter to the BCCI president, Sharad Pawar, which ended the tenure of Dilip.
Before the inclusion of Kohli for India, Vengsarkar stamped the authority in the selection of Rohit Sharma, who was one of the young players of Mumbai, showing his elegance and ability to take his time at the crease.
Also Read: Watch: Virat Kohli Sledges Young Australian Opener With ‘No Clue’ Remark In 2nd Adelaide Test
Vengsarkar was in the Delhi NCR for a wedding, and Rohit was there for a match between Indian Oil and ONGC, where the former took some time to watch the game and the exceptional performance of the current Indian captain, where he scored a century against the bowlers included Munaf Patel and Amit Mishra led him in getting the chance.
He stepped in personally to add the batter in the Deodhar Trophy, where the Nagpur-born showcased his brilliance with a stunning knock of 143 runs against the North Zone side. Those two decisions changed the future of India, as both the veterans have taken the Blue Brigade to new highs.