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The moment cricket fans in India had been dreading for well over a year eventually came at roughly 7:30pm on India’s 74th Independence Day. On 15 August, MS Dhoni – who hadn’t played any international cricket since India’s exit in the World Cup semi-final more than twelve months ago – announced he was bidding adieu to international cricket.
Destiny’s favourite child, writing his own script... one last time.
Now even as MS Dhoni bids farewell to the Indian Blue, here’s a look at the records he’s collected through the 16 years of his international career, some big stats and some of his off-field greatest achievements.
In any other century, one wouldn’t associate Ranchi with too many famous personalities or household names. But all that would change with Dhoni’s arrival into the Indian team in 2004; the former Kharagpur station TT would go on to be the biggest name to emerge from the region, and gave Ranchi a place on the cricketing map.
Dhoni would not only be an immensely successful cricketer himself, he would go on to be India’s longest-serving Test captain, and the only captain to win all three ICC limited over titles.
Dhoni achieved a lot during his 16 years of international cricket. Here’s a look at some of the records which stand against his name at the time of hanging up his gloves:
And here’s a list of some of the accolades he has earned through the course of his illustrious career:
Dhoni’s international debut wasn’t an auspicious one; he was run out for duck in his debut ODI, but it wasn’t long before he made his presence felt.
In his 5th ODI, he smashed a 123-ball 148 against Pakistan in Visakhapatnam, and six months later in October 2005 scored an unbeaten 183 against Sri Lanka in Jaipur. That second hundred is still the highest score by a wicketkeeper in ODIs.
The ‘Captain Cool’ moniker also stuck with Dhoni for his ability to polish off run-chases; despite the mounting required run rate, Dhoni would take the contest deep, and step on the accelerator at the very end and take his team over the line. That ability, and such repeated performances earned him the right to be considered ‘the best finisher in the game’ for many years.
What is often forgotten is that Dhoni wasn’t the finished product as a wicketkeeper when he began playing international cricket. At that point, many even claimed Dhoni had ‘a goalkeeper technique’ and would struggle. However, he worked on that aspect of his game and would be among the top wicketkeepers to have played in the modern era; his glovework – particularly when effecting stumpings or run outs – have left many amazed.
Over the next few days, weeks and months, and at some point in time occasionally in the future too, there will be prose written about all that MS Dhoni achieved and all the laurels he brought for India as a nation and to the Indian cricket team. In addition to all those, perhaps his most significant contribution to Indian cricket is the belief he gave to small town boys – the belief he gave to cricketers from tier-three cities and villages - that they could also be successful, go on to play cricket for India if that was their choice, and even become an Indian captain.
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