File image of MS Dhoni
Former Sri Lanka all-rounder Russel Arnold on Monday recalled former Indian captain MS Dhoni's career-besr knock of 183 runs scored against Sri Lanka in 2005 in Jaipur. Talking to Indian cricketer Ravichandran Ashwin in an Instagram live session, Arnold admitted that he did not know mich about Dhoni until that series where he reckoned that the then youngster showed the world how dangerous he can be.
Arnold also revealed that Sri Lanka were surprised with Dhoni's promotion up the lineup when he walked in at No.3 in India's successful chase of 299.
"I didn't know MS Dhoni much before this series. I think this must have been his 3rd or 4th series. MS Dhoni, down the order, big hitter... that's what we know. But in this series, we came to know about his exceptional skills, his mentality and the potential danger he could cause... not just to us but to everyone," Arnold said.
"I think he had batted at No. 3 against Pakistan before. He had scored 148 against Pakistan. We knew he had the ability. But some players tend to perform just one day and vanish. When you repeat, people take notice of the players. He had long hair and was a well-built man.
"MS Dhoni came at No.3. That was a surprise. India were chasing a big score. We thought MS Dhoni had to score something like he scored against Pakistan to chase this down. India had lost Sachin Tendulkar early as well.
"When Dhoni came in at No. 3, all our plans went out of place a little. But we still wanted to pick up wickets. We tried but we found it tough to control Dhoni's power."
Arnold also talked about Sri Lanka's Champions Trophy win in 2002, a trophy they shared with India following a wash out of the summit clash.
"It was the 2002 Champions Trophy, I think. We were playing in Sri Lanka. We were about 200 I think. I remember I had played a delicate late cut and then took 2-3 steps down the wicket.
"Okay, I can be honest now. It's been 18 years now. I took 2-3 steps down. Everyone does it. Sourav Ganguly came up immediately and made some noise, confronted me.
"Nothing happened. Then Rahul Dravid told me 'Russ, don't run on the (danger area) of the pitch'. It was just banter," Russel Arnold said.
When we are playing with Sourav... he is a fierce competitor. He will give as good as he gets. It's also a bit easy to wind him up. He always has replies. It was good banter. Nothing more than that. It's all in the game. It was all in the game.
"It was all in good spirits. I really think it was overblown. It was just 3 steps... 3 strides."
