Former India captain MS Dhoni and his long-flowing mane had become synonymous in his early days in international cricket. Dhoni’s long hair was not only a rage in India but also in neighbouring Pakistan as well. Dhoni, who celebrates his 40th birthday on Wednesday (July 7), garnered plenty of fans in Pakistam – including the then Pakistan president Parvez Musharraf with his sensational display with the willow in the 2005-06 season.
Former Pakistan president Musharraf, used to come over to the stadium to watch some of the matches on India's tour of Pakistan once advised Dhoni to not cut his long mane. During a post-match press conference after India’s impressive win over hosts Pakistan in Lahore, Musharraf had urged Dhoni to keep his iconic long-hair look at the time. In his short speech, Musharraf had hailed the wicketkeeper-batsman stalwart as the architect of Team India’s victory.
“I saw a placard which said ‘Dhoni have a haircut’. If you want to take my opinion, you look good in this haircut. Don’t have a haircut,” Musharraf had famously said after India defeated Pakistan in the third ODI of the bilateral series.
The memorable interaction between Dhoni and Musharraf is still fondly remembered by fans on both sides of the border.
Watch the video of the interaction here…
Dhoni loved to score big against Pakistan in all formats of the game. In the 3rd ODI of the 2006 series, Dhoni played a match-winning knock which propelled India to an emphatic win over Pakistan at the Lahore’s Gaddafi Stadium.
Asked to chase down a competitive target of 288, Dhoni joined forces with Yuvraj Singh as the iconic batting duo powered India to convincing a five-wicket win over the 1992 world champions. While Yuvraj scored unbeaten 79 off 87 balls, Dhoni produced the match-changing knock by scoring 72 in just 46 deliveries. Dhoni was adjudged the Man of the Match for his whirlwind knock.
