Irfan Pathan and Dinesh Karthik are two of the notable players who made their debut in 2004 as well. None of the players, who made their debut along with Dhoni in 2004, feature in the current Indian cricket team.
Very few people would remember MS Dhoni donning the India A colours in Kenya. It was a series where he was recognised as one of the most hard-hitting batsmen India have ever produced. Dhoni made his debut in the 50 overs format for India against Pakistan at home.
The first three matches he could not score at all but the then Sourav Ganguly showed his faith on him and pushed him up the batting order. Dhoni went on to score 183 runs and announced his arrival in world cricket and rest is history.
Surprisingly, there were a number of Indian players who made their debut in 2004 alongside the former Indian captain but they could never make it as big as Dhoni did and few of them have even vanished in the oblivion.
Let us take a look at those Indian players who made their debut longside MS Dhoni in 2004:
Ramesh Powar: He was short and not so sporty-physic. His waistline proved it. But he was a witty off-spinner. He also made his debut for India against Pakistan. If one stresses on the memory a little, one can actually recollect his bowling action. This Mumbai spinner player featured in two Tests and 31 ODIs for India. Powar played his last ODI for India in 2007 against Australia in Kochi.
Joginder Sharma: Remember the last over of the ICC World T20 2007 Final when Dhoni had entrusted Sharma with the most important over of the tournament? After that Sharma became an overnight hero of Indian cricket. Dhoni had trusted him with a number of last overs in the Indian Premier League as well for the now-defunct Chennai Super Kings. But sadly that was his last T20 for India. He also played four ODIs for India.
Irfan Pathan: The crafty left-arm swing bowler one of the best India ever produced. The hat-trick in the first over of the 3rd Test against Pakistan in Karachi will be one of the moments he would never be able to forget. However, he did manage to play 120 ODIs for India and picked up 173 wickets. Pathan also played 29 Tests and 24 T20s for India. He was slowly turning into a good all-rounder but things did not work out well for him.
Dinesh Karthik: Dinesh Karthik almost cemented his place until MS Dhoni appeared in the scene. But the selectors preferred Dhoni over Karthik because of the former’s unconventional style of batting and wicket-keeping. However, Karthik played a crucial role with the bat during Champions Trophy 2013 in England, which was Dhoni’s 3rd ICC title in his career. Karthik last donned the Indian colours against Afghanistan in 2014 in Dhaka.
Rohan Gavaskar: He came into the world of cricket with a huge burden and that was the legacy of his father Sunil Gavaskar. He was a good all-rounder and made his ODI debut for India against Australia in 2004 in Brisbane. He only managed to get 11 caps for India and vanished from the scene. Now he is mostly seen in commentary teams.
