End of an era: Mahendra Singh Dhoni hangs up his gloves in International Cricket

Former two-time World Cup-winning Indian captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni ended speculations of his retirement once and for all by announcing that he has decided to walk away from International Cricket after 15 glorious years a few moments ago. Dhoni, who is set to lead Chennai Super Kings in the 13th edition of the Indian Premier […]
 
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End of an era: Mahendra Singh Dhoni hangs up his gloves in International Cricket

Former two-time World Cup-winning Indian captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni ended speculations of his retirement once and for all by announcing that he has decided to walk away from International Cricket after 15 glorious years a few moments ago.

Dhoni, who is set to lead Chennai Super Kings in the 13th edition of the Indian Premier League starting next month, posted a video on Instagram with the caption: “Thanks a lot for ur love and support throughout.from 1929 hrs consider me as Retired”

The video comprised of snapshots of every single high and some low points of Dhoni’s international career, including moments from his International debut against Bangladesh, his maiden International hundred, the ODI series against Pakistan, the inaugural T20 World Cup triumph, the CB tri-series win down under in 2008, the 2011 World Cup, and so on.

Dhoni’s last International Cricket match was the semi-final of the 2019 World Cup against New Zealand, a game which India agonizingly lost by 18 runs. Dhoni was run out for 50 off 72 with 24 required for victory in the last 9 deliveries, unable to take his country past the line.

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A talismanic figure behind the stumps over the last 15 years, MS Dhoni, who hails from Ranchi, made his debut in International Cricket on the back of his stellar performance for India A and Jharkhand Cricket team. Acknowledged as a hard-hitting, clean striker of the ball who required some technical improvement with the gloves, Dhoni, on the back of a phenomenal tri-series at Nairobi against hosts Kenya and Pakistan, scoring 362 runs in 6 innings with 2 hundreds and a match-winning half-century, all against Pakistan A, earned a call-up to the One Day International team for the three-match ODI series against Bangladesh.

His breakthrough moment in International Cricket came in his fifth ODI innings. In the 2nd ODI at Vishakhapatnam of the 6-match series against Pakistan, Dhoni, promoted to number 3 in the batting order, scored his maiden ODI hundred (148). Later that year, exactly one day before Diwali 2005, Dhoni set off fireworks in his own way against Sri Lanka in the 3rd ODI at Jaipur of a 7-match series. Chasing 299, Dhoni walked in at number 3 and helped in finishing the game off with 4 overs remaining, having scored 183 of those runs, in the process registering the highest score by an Indian wicket-keeper batsman, a record which remains to this date.

A stunning ODI series followed in Pakistan earlier in the following year, as Dhoni, with 3 half-centuries, two of them in successful run-chases, began to make a name for himself. The 2007 World Cup in the Caribbean came as a setback to the Jharkhand born wicket-keeper, who only managed 29 runs in the 3 matches he played, as India crashed out of the tournament failing to get past the group stages.

Having made the captain of India for the inaugural T20 World Cup in South Africa later that year, Dhoni led a relatively inexperienced side to silverware, as India beat arch-rivals Pakistan by 5 runs to be crowned champions. On the back of that achievement, Dhoni was subsequently made captain of India for all three formats in 2008 after the retirement of Anil Kumble.

One of the most fundamental attributes of his captaincy was his ability to stay cool under extremely pressurizing situations and implement his tactics, which earned him the nickname ‘Captain Cool’. Along with coach Gary Kirsten, he put his senior performers in a comfortable place, and they returned the favour with some of their best years in international cricket.

A series of bilateral, a trilateral (CB series 2008), and a continental (Asia Cup 2010) ODI tournament wins followed, and India reached number 1 in the ICC Test rankings in 2009. Dhoni’s highest point of his career came on 2nd April, 2011, when he led India to World Championship glory. Aided by phenomenal efforts from Sachin Tendulkar, Yuvraj Singh, Zaheer Khan as well as individual performances from the rest of the squad throughout the tournament, Dhoni, in tandem with Gautam Gambhir (97), played the knock of his life in the final against Sri Lanka, scoring 91 off 78 balls, sealing the title with a six over long-on off Nuwan Kulasekara.

End of an era: Mahendra Singh Dhoni hangs up his gloves in International Cricket

“When I die, the last thing I want to see is the six that Dhoni hit in the 2011 World Cup final,” Sunil Gavaskar

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Dhoni also led India to a Champions Trophy in 2013, bringing about a renaissance in Indian Cricket in terms of fielding in the process. The following year, he retired from Test Cricket to focus on the shorter formats, handing over the reins to Virat Kohli. An ageing body and too much Cricket started to affect his on-field performance after that, and by the twilight stages of his career, he was severely criticised for his slow, measured approach towards run-chases, which cost his side a few matches.

Despite that, the legacy of Dhoni will remain forever in Cricket history. As for his personal achievements, he was also awarded the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna in 2007, the Padma Shri 2009, and the Padma Bhushan 2018. He was also awarded the ICC ODI player of the year in 2008 and 2009, becoming the first Cricketer to win the award twice.