When former Indian captain Mahendra Singh (MS) Dhoni announced his retirement from international cricket yesterday, his fans as well as big names in the world of cricket paid tribute to him. Some called Dhoni the best captain of India, while others called him the best finisher in cricket, the batsman who helped his team win the match. He retired from Test cricket in 2014 and will be seen captaining the Chennai Super Kings in the IPL despite the recent decision. But in ODI and T20 cricket, he has undoubtedly been a key member of the Indian cricket team for the last 16 years. He will be remembered for his services in every field, be it captaincy and batting or wicket-keeping.
Dhoni's ability is evident in the fact that he alone has led India to several ODIs. Here are five chances where India could have lost these matches without Dhoni:
Failure in the first three matches then a century against Pakistan:
Apart from India, there are many fans of MS Dhoni in Pakistan as well. This is because cricket fans here have seen Dhoni's skills with their own eyes. Dhoni has two centuries against Pakistan and both are considered admirable. But his first century was against Pakistan in Visakhapatnam. This is from 2005 when the Pakistan team visited India. Dhoni did not impress the fans much in his first four matches.
The Indian team was in trouble after Sachin Tendulkar was run out early. But in his fifth match, Dhoni scored a century against Pakistan with the help of 15 fours and four sixes, which helped India win the match easily. Pakistan could not win the match despite the presence of batsmen like Inzamam-ul-Haq, Mohammad Yousuf, Abdul Razzaq and Shoaib Malik as the target of 357 was considered too high at that time.
Highest individual score against Sri Lanka:
By the way, Dhoni has scored a total of 10 centuries in ODIs, but his best individual score was against Sri Lanka in Jaipur when he scored in reply to Sri Lanka's 299 runs. He remained unbeaten till the end and when India won the match, his score was 183 runs. The highlight of this innings was that he played only 145 balls and hit 10 sixes in addition to 15 fours. All the big and experienced players like Virender Sehwag, Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid and Yuvraj Singh were out in this match, so Dhoni's turn was crucial for the victory.
Dhoni not out at 72 in Lahore:
In 2006, the Indian team was on a tour of Pakistan and was playing its third ODI. After Shoaib Malik's century and Abdul Razzaq's lightning-fast 64, Pakistan gave India a target of 289.
In reply, India had two outs at 12. In this match, first Yuvraj and Tendulkar handled the Indian batting and then Dhoni made 72 off 46 balls and he stood by Yuvraj till the last moment.
Similarly, in the last match of the series, Dhoni scored 77 runs in Karachi and remained unbeaten.
Soro Ganguly has once said in reference to the series that he was asked by former Pakistani President General Pervez Musharraf, "Where did you catch Dhoni?" During this time, Dhoni's hairstyle was also very popular. When the visiting Indian team met former President General Pervez Musharraf, they praised Dhoni's hair and asked him not to cut it.
The captain himself had to come on the field to win the World Cup:
According to many, MS Dhoni's innings in the 2011 World Cup final was very important and it should be considered his best turn.
In terms of batting, their World Cup was not going well but the Indian team had reached the final against Sri Lanka. India's target to win the match was 275 runs and three wickets had fallen to 114, including Virat Kohli. Dhoni had come to the crease himself before Yuvraj to accompany Gautam Gambhir so that Mataya could compete with Murali Dharan's spin. In the 2007 World Cup, it was Murali Dharan who bowled Dhoni out for zero in a match that India had to win. But this time Dhoni was successful and he played a 91-run innings in which he shared 109 runs with Gambhir. And then how can anyone forget the memorable six that stamped India on the World Cup trophy.
A 112-meter six in Adelaide against Australia:
India needed 270 runs to win against Australia in Adelaide in 2012. India's batting was good in the beginning but four outs at 179 and 91 more runs to win put the team in trouble. Dhoni did not look as calm from the start as before. On the other hand, after the wickets of Suresh Raina and Ravindra Jadeja fell, the pressure on them increased even more. Despite this, he remained 'Captain Cole' and scored 44 valuable runs for the victory of his team. India needed 15 runs in the last over and 12 runs off the last four balls. Fast bowler Clint McKay had the ball in his hand who had taken three wickets. Dhoni hit a 112-meter long six which restored India's hopes and thus India snatched the match from Australia's mouth.
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