Dhoni helped me stay calm: Pawan Negi

Negi made his debut against the UAE on Thursday and grabbed one wicket. “I got to know that I will be making my debut in the afternoon. 

Our bowling coach Bharat Arun told me that I will be playing this game. I felt really great when I heard that news,” he told said. 

“It felt normal when we were in our team meeting and then boarded the bus for the stadium. But just when we reached close to the ground, I had a bit of butterflies in my stomach. I was about to play my first game and there were a flurry of emotions as I walked into the dressing room. “When Ravi (Shastri) sir gave me the cap and I wore it, it felt really great. 

All the players came up to me to congratulate and that moment felt really special,” he said. Negi said the team helped calm his nerves. “The seniors in the side really helped me to calm my nerves and they came up to me to boost my confidence levels. The entire team was really supportive and I never felt like I was playing my first match,” he said. 

“Before walking out to the field, our captain MS Dhoni walked up to me and asked me not to think too much about the fact that I was making my debut. He asked me to relax and treat the game as a normal game and go about things normally.” 

The 23-year-old was handed the ball in the 13th over of the match against UAE last night and didn’t disappoint as he picked his first international wicket on his fifth delivery.