The two met for the first time in Dharamshala

East Zone and South Zone had a Duleep Trophy game

Dhoni had a habit of staying away from phones

 World Cup winning Indian captain Dhoni and retired Indian pacer Shreeshant met for the first time in Dharamshala during a clash between the East Zone and the South Zone as part of the Duleep Trophy in February 2004. 

Anurag Thakur, a politician from Himachal Pradesh currently serving as the Minister  Minister of Sports and Youth Affairs had arranged for dinner for the 2 teams during the match. “At the dinner party, we just had a casual interaction. But I told him, ‘Don’t worry. Something tells me you will play and do well soon. I have the habit of motivating the players sitting on the bench. You won’t believe, the next match he played he scored a hundred. In the Duleep Trophy finals, he got a chance and he scored a hundred,” the retired Indian pacer, Shreeshant said in an interaction with Sportskeeda. 

“Then he got a chance in India ‘A’, he scored hundred again, and then hundred again. Crazy journey man! So from playing Duleep Trophy against him in 2003/04 to winning two World Cups with him. Unbelievable journey. That’s why it is said you should not hope, you should believe,” he added. 

Shreeshanth also recollected that Dhoni did not use his phone much at that time. It is a habit that he has carried through 20 years later as well. Dhoni had once remarked that Pujara taking opinions on social media seriously is not helpful.