Ehsan Khan, the Hong Kong off-spinner, has revealed the work that went into him getting the “dream” wicket of Mahendra Singh Dhoni during the Asia Cup 2018.
Khan dismissed Dhoni for nought as Hong Kong made things uncomfortable for India in their clash last minute. He also got the big wicket of Rohit Sharma, ensuring India had to dig hard for their 26-run victory.
After the match, when players from both sides gathered for a chat, Khan made sure he got a picture with both his victims.
“In my dreams, I would often think of dismissing Sachin Tendulkar or MS Dhoni,” he told the Indian Express. “I couldn’t take the wicket of Sachin, but I managed to bag the wicket of Dhoni. This is why I bent down and paid respect (to the pitch).
“If Sachin is god, then Dhoni is the ‘king’ of cricket. I have plans to write a book on my career and when I do, Dhoni will be the main chapter. I shall read it to my grandson because life is like a fairytale now.”
Khan is 33 and presumably doesn’t have long left in his career, but he said Dhoni’s advice – ‘you have a lot of cricket left. Fitness is what you should be looking at’ – will be ringing in his ears.
As for the delivery that actually got him the big wicket, Khan revealed he had worked on that particular variation of the off-break for a year. “I tried to use the side-arm action, with a straight-ish seam,” he said. “The Kookaburra ball moves just a bit in the air, it floats through the air and gets drift.
