<P> In the Duleep Trophy finals, Dhoni was picked over international cricketer Deep Dasgupta to represent East Zone . He scored a fighting half - century in the second innings in a losing cause . Dhoni's talent was discovered via the BCCI's small - town talent - spotting initiative TRDW . Dhoni was discovered by TRDO Prakash Poddar, captain of Bengal in the 1960s, when he saw Dhoni play for Jharkhand at a match in Jamshedpur in 2003, and sent a report to the National Cricket Academy . </P> <P> He was recognised for his efforts in the 2003 / 04 season, especially in the One Day format and was picked for the India A squad for a tour of Zimbabwe and Kenya . Against the Zimbabwe XI in Harare Sports Club, Dhoni had his best wicket - keeping effort with 7 catches and 4 stumpings in the match . In the tri-nation tournament involving Kenya, India A and Pakistan A, Dhoni helped India A chase down their target of 223 against Pakistan A with a half - century . Continuing his good performance, he scored back to back centuries--120 and 119 *--against the same team . Dhoni scored 362 runs in 6 innings at an average of 72.40 and his performance in the series received attention from the then Indian captain--Sourav Ganguly and Ravi Shastri amongst others . However, the India A team coach Sandeep Patil recommended Dinesh Karthik for a place in the Indian squad as wicket - keeper / batsman . </P> <P> The Indian ODI team in the early 2000s saw Rahul Dravid as the wicket - keeper to ensure that the wicket - keeper spot didn't lack in batting talent . The team also saw the entry of wicket - keeper / batsmen from the junior ranks with talents like Parthiv Patel and Dinesh Karthik (both India U-19 captains) named in the Test squads . With Dhoni making a mark in the India A squad, he was picked in the ODI squad for the Bangladesh tour in 2004 / 05 . Dhoni did not have a great start to his ODI career, getting run out for a duck on debut . In spite of an average series against Bangladesh, Dhoni was picked for the Pakistan ODI series . </P> <P> In the second match of the series, Dhoni, in his fifth one - day international, scored 148 in Visakhapatnam off only 123 deliveries . Dhoni's 148 surpassed the earlier record for the highest score by an Indian wicket - keeper, a record that he would re-write before the end of the year . </P>

When did ms dhoni join indian cricket team