M S DHONI: THE WINNER

Mahendra Singh Dhoni aka Mahi -

“DHONI IS MY HERO”, “We talk a lot about Sachin Tendulkar, Virender Sehwag, But this boy has as much talent as anyone in the game” - Kapil Dev

“DHONI IS THE BEST CAPTAIN I HAVE PLAYED UNDER”, Sachin Tendulkar

“HE IS ONE OF THE MOST INFLUENTIAL MEN IN THE HISTORY OF INDIAN CRICKET”, Rohit Sharma.

“I Would Go To War With Dhoni By My Side.” – Gary Kirsten

On 15th August 2020, when India was celebrating its 73rd Independence day, Mahendra Singh Dhoni, announced his retirement from International Cricket via an Instagram post which reads- “Thanks a lot for ur love and support throughout from 1929 hrs consider me as Retired.” The whole of India was shocked and social media platforms were flooded with the posts of his retirement. The love for Dhoni is different and can’t be explained in words. The movie “M.S. Dhoni: The Untold Story” shows the struggle and ups and downs faced by him. His career began and ended with a runout. On 23rd August 2004, he was run out on the first ball during his debut match in Chittogram against hosts Bangladesh and was desperate to score his first international run. On 9th July 2019, he gets run out in his final international match, his 350th ODI, the World Cup Semi-Final, in that match India was defeated by New Zealand. Did u watch the movie “MS Dhoni: The Untold Story”? Almost every scene of the movie shows how he handled the difficult situations of his life, in which a common man breaks and quits his dreams, but he did none of them either. His life is the inspiration for many and shows that sooner or later one will get success, all we need is to be patient in a do or die situation. 

MSD is the only captain in the history of cricket with calm nature. Being aggressive in nature is very easy in difficult situations. What is tough is to be calm and take tactical at crucial times and this art is perfectly mastered by Dhoni and he slowly started getting the tag, Captain Cool. No one has seen him shouting out at someone and thus, he is never tense which helps him to think and make decisions wisely. People’s love gave him the name CAPTAIN COOL. Once a legend is always a legend, so we should celebrate his achievements instead of mourning over his retirement, so let’s have a look at his journey and achievements and special moments: 

“If 15 Runs Are Needed Off The Last 6 Balls, Pressure Is On The Bowler & Not On MS Dhoni” – Ian Bishop

“As Far As One-Day Cricket Is Concerned, Dhoni Is One Of The Greatest Captains Of All Times” – Saurav Ganguly

“You just can’t bowl spin to MS Dhoni in the death overs. He is simply the best in the world.” – Alastair Cook

“If Dhoni plays till the end, one thing is for sure...He will make his team Win.” – Harsha Bhogle

“I will pay to watch MS Dhoni Bat. Dhoni is not the next Gilchrist. He’s the first MS Dhoni.” – Adam Gilchrist

“Need A Six In Pressure Situation? Call MS DHONI.” – Ramiz Raja

In 2005, he scored his first ODI century- 148 against Pakistan in Vizag, which made him the country’s first-choice wicketkeeper. Very soon, he established himself as a middle-order batsman of such repute that Dhoni was the greatest finisher in the game, that India was never beyond posting a grand total or chasing down an impossible target until Dhoni had his say. He was the captain of the Indian Cricket team, in limited-overs formats from 2007 to 2016 and in test cricket from 2008 to 2014. In 2007, at the inaugural T20 World Cup in South Africa, Dhoni’s first test of leadership was taken. He led India’s new generation to his first of three ICC majors with a win against Pakistan in the final at Johannesburg. By 2008, Dhoni was captain of all three formats with the Indian team and lead India to No.1 in the world in Test cricket for the first time in history. This ranking was achieved with a drawn series in South Africa in 2011, and Dhoni became the only Indian captain to have not lost a series on those shores. It was under his leadership, India won the 50-over World Cup after 28 years. He struck the winning runs against Sri Lanka to clinch ICC World Cup in 2011. No one can forget that winning Six hits by MSD. In 2013, when India won the Champions Trophy in England, Dhoni became the first and is still the only captain to date to have won all the three ICC Trophies. He became India’s most successful Test captain, surpassing Sourav Ganguly’s 21 wins after India beat Australia in Hyderabad.

On 30th December 2014, he announced his retirement from the Test series in the middle of a Test series in Australia, possibly upon by several consecutive away series losses, including in England and Australia, just after the World Cup win. In the 2015 World Cup held in Australia and New Zealand, Dhoni was named the captain of the 30-member squad by the BCCI in December 2014. Under his captaincy, India was able to go through the Semi-Finals with ease, beating Bangladesh in the quarter-finals. However, they lost to the host Australia in the Semi-Finals held at the Sydney Cricket Ground. The team won seven consecutive matches in the world cup and won 11 consecutive matches overall in world cups. With a win against Bangladesh, he became the first non - Australian captain to win 100 ODI matches, and the first Indian captain to achieve the mark. He is also the third captain to win 100 matches, after two Australians Ricky Ponting and Allan Border. On 4th January 2017, announced that he is giving up the captaincy, but remains available for selection for the upcoming England series. In 2019, he ran out in his final international match, his 350th ODI, the World Cup Semi-Final defeat to New Zealand. He was rated as the 16th most Marketable Athlete in the world in 2012. He is the co-owner of the Indian Super League team Chennaiyin FC. In June 2015, Forbes ranked him at 23rd in the list of highest-paid athletes in the world, estimating his earnings at US$31 million.              In 2007-2008, he was honoured with Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna, India’s highest honour given for achievement in sports. 

In 2009, he was honoured with Padma Shri, India’s fourth-highest civilian award. 

In 2018, he was honoured with Padma Bhushan,  India’s Highest Civilian Award.

He also won some sporting honours:

• ICC ODI Player of the year 2008, 2009.

• ICC World ODI XI 2006 ,2008,2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014(Captain in 2009, 2011-2014)

• ICC World Test XI 2009,2010,2013, 

• Castrol Indian Cricketer of the year: 2011​