MS Dhoni on Saturday (15 August 2020) hanged his boots from all forms of international cricket. Dhoni took to photo-blogging platform Instagram to post an emotional video as he bid adieu to international cricket in what can be termed as the most Dhoni-esque way of quitting the sport. A legendary character in world cricket, Dhoni is regarded as one of the finest captains and wicket-keepers to have played international cricket. Reactions started to flood in as soon as Dhoni's post on Instagram went viral in seconds.
MAHENDRA SINGH DHONI
MSD MOST FAMOUS TRIUMPHS
ICC Men’s ODI World Cup, 2011: Of course, Dhoni finished it off in style and India won the World Cup after a gap of 28 years. The party in the dressing room started soon after he hit that six off Nuwan Kulasekara and as the Indian captain, he was phenomenal on the night of the final. You have, surely, heard this before, haven’t you?
MSD WORLD CUP WINNING SHOT
ICC Men’s T20 World Cup, 2007: It was a special win for many reasons. But the fact that it came in 2007, not long after a horrendous low-point (and not just for Indian cricketers but also for the fans back home who took things too far after the ODI World Cup elimination), made this triumph all the more sweeter. A brash, young, long-haired Dhoni showed the world for the first time he was going to be a successful captain.
T20 WORLD CUP
ICC Champions Trophy, 2013: In the list of India’s most famous triumphs, the 2013 Champions Trophy often comes as an afterthought after the two World Cup wins for many. But this tournament was unique because Dhoni found a way to win with spin bowling and a new-look top order. The win also came on the back of an IPL scandal that would have surely affected the team morale, if not for Dhoni’s calming presence as captain.
ICC CHAMPIONS TROPHY 2013
Commonwealth Bank Series, 2008: “The process was criticised, when the one-day team was selected, and the timing of the selection,” Dhoni said about this win. One wonders, if the CB Series did not go according to Dhoni’s plans, would he have been as successful as India’s captain? Would he have been backed? The World T20 was a fun victory, but this tri-series win truly paved the way for the Dhoni era.
Test win at Lord’s against England, 2014: What came afterwards was forgettable, but Dhoni did manage to lead his team to a Test victory at Lord’s. Those do not happen often.
CB SERIES 2008
India becoming world no 1 in Tests, 2009: Having officially taken over the reigns of the Test team in 2008, Dhoni became the first Indian captain to lead the team to the world No 1 ranking in 2009. The team stayed at that pinnacle for over 600 days during the 2009-2011 period.
NO.1 TEST TEAM UNDER MSD CAPTAINCY
NOTE: picture source; GOOGLE