“And Dhoni Finishes off in Style.” Yes! Not only a match, but Mahendra Singh Dhoni also finished his career in his own style. Unexpected, calm, and yet impactful.
Many believe that MS Dhoni has changed the face of Indian Cricket as soon as he took charge as the captain of the shortest format of the game. When he became the captain of the Indian Cricket Team in all formats, the team was a real mess. However, Dhoni is not one of the best batsmen in the Indian team at that time. So, how could one believe their team with a hard-hitter like Dhoni? But what all experienced later is the real history that they feel lucky to be a part of.
Winning T20 World Cup in his maiden outing as a captain is no joke. The moment Sreeshant caught Misbah-Ul-Haq wide of the short third man region, the entire nation came to know what they lack all these days and it is ‘Not a captain like young Dhoni.’ It is the ‘Belief’. Belief in Team, Belief in Player, Belief in their talent. That belief made him the one and only captain in the world to lift all the three ICC trophies.
The tremendous quality of Dhoni is his presence of mind and awareness of the game. But the most underrated quality of him is the way he ‘backs up a player’. Ashwin, Jadeja, Raina, Rohit, Shami, Ishant Sharma, Yuvraj, and many more still say that MS is the reason to give their best to the team. When it comes to IPL, this quality of him has done wonders for the CSK franchise.
The 10 seasons that the Chennai Super Kings played, they reached play-offs under MSD’s captaincy. Let alone for being the team with best win percentage (61.2%), they Won 3 titles and appeared in the finals for 8 times which is nothing but phenomenal. No one other than a Chennai fan believed that Chennai Super Kings will lift their 3rd IPL trophy in their comeback season (2018) especially with the ‘Daddy Army’ but Dhoni just showed everyone who is the ‘Boss of the game.’
Under his captaincy, Team India grabbed No.1 spot in Test Cricket and was regarded as the No.1 team in the world in all three formats. And personally, for a player like Dhoni, who comes at No.6 and No.7, scoring 10,000 runs with an astonishing average 50.6 is the biggest achievement. 9 out of 10 ‘BEST ODI-XI of all time’ teams that are being chosen by the Cricket greats will feature MS Dhoni as the captain.
Yes, there are some drawbacks in his career. The rotation policy he adopted in a tri-series with the Indian openers, the poor performance of India in Overseas tests, CSK fixing scandal e.t.c but none of them affected his clean image and exceptional achievements. Even haters found tears in their eyes after getting to know about his retirement. Of course, who would like to miss Helicopter shots, lighting stumpings, innovations in wicket keeping, and off-field humor?
If there is any tribute that one would give a stalwart like Dhoni is not to indulge in the Fan Wars in the name of IPL and personal achievements. There has been a generation gap between the persons whom we are now competing with Dhoni. Be it, Ganguly or Kohli. They adore him like their own family. When Dhoni was ran-out by Guptil in the 2019 WC Semi-Final, we can see tears in Ganguly’s eyes. Kohli still treats MS as his captain. So, what all these arguments are worth for? Did they make you stop feel for him yesterday night?
Be it Dhoni-Ganguly, Dhoni-Kohli or Kohli-Rohit, we cheer for India, and Dhoni always reminds us that country comes first before our personal requirements and he made too many sacrifices in proving this point effortlessly. It is not that easy to become Dhoni, but it is very easy to follow what Dhoni taught and that is the real tribute one can give to any player.