As India skipper, Sourav Ganguly was very keen to have Mahendra Singh Dhoni in the national team for the historic tour of Pakistan in 2004, but the dashing wicket-keeper-batsman missed the bus by the skin of his teeth, John Wright, who was India coach at the time, has disclosed. Parthiv Patel was chosen for the three-Test series, the first to be played against India in Pakistan after 15 years, and Rahul Dravid kept the wickets in the five One-day Internationals. In an interview Wright said, 'Dhoni nearly toured with us to Pakistan (in 2004). Sourav was very keen to have him in the squad. He was on the borderline, and it was one of those decisions that could have gone either way. As it turned out, we selected a successful Test team, and he didn't make it. That was obviously when Dhoni had started to come into discussions at the national level. Sourav had very good things to say about him and always encouraged youngsters who came into the set-up. But you never know how things would have worked out (for Dhoni had he been picked for the Pakistan tour). That's when I first started to hear about him. And Dhoni seemed to be reading the game an over ahead. That's always a sign of a good, strategic captaincy. He's obviously one of India's greatest captains along with one or two in the Modern Era. He has certainly been fantastic for India. His record speaks for itself.'