Former India captain MS Dhoni shocked his fans when he announced retirement from international cricket in the middle of this month. While the fans were waiting for Mahi’s grand return in the blue jersey after the conclusion of IPL, all they got was an Instagram post from Captain Cool. Dhoni has given uncountable moments of joy to all the cricket fans in the country whether it is through his batting, captaincy, or the lightning stumpings behind the wicket. He has been a rockstar. It is really difficult to judge which was the best performance of Dhoni. However, he has turned several matches towards India single-handedly. Let’s take a look at the top 5 instances when Dhoni gave the opposition a hard time on the field.
“If 15 Runs Are Needed Off The Last 6 Balls, Pressure Is On The Bowler & Not On MS Dhoni” – Ian Bishop
5. 72* vs Pak in 2006, Lahore: 72 is not a very big score by MS Dhoni’s standards or any ODI great’s standards for that matter. But 2006 was the ground-breaking year for the young boy from Ranchi. MS Dhoni is known as one of the best chasers in the history of cricket. But it was India’s Pakistan tour of 2006 that helped Dhoni gain confidence as a successful run-chaser. Pakistan batted first and set a challenging target of 289 runs. The Gaddafi stadium was full of Pakistani fans and Indian openers struggled to put the pressure on Pak bowlers. At the end of 35 overs, the Indian team was reduced to 190/5. Yuvraj and Dhoni were in the middle and Pakistani bowlers didn’t anticipate how dangerous Dhoni could be until he went after them all guns blazing. The Indian team that was reeling under pressure jumped to the top riding on Dhoni’s shoulders. MS Dhoni thwarted all the attacks by Pakistani bowlers and smashed 72 runs off 46 balls with the help of 13 glorious boundaries. India chased down the total with 14 balls to spare and the men in blue found a new and reliable match-finisher in Dhoni.
“I will pay to watch MS Dhoni Bat. Dhoni is not the next Gilchrist. He’s the first MS Dhoni.” – Adam Gilchrist
4. 224 vs Australia in 2013, Chennai: Despite a long and glorious career, MS Dhoni achieved a little as a batsman in test cricket. His record in the tests is not as great as it is in other formats. However, in 2013 Dhoni turned the fate of the Chennai test against Australia single-handedly. In response to Australia’s challenging 380 at Chepauk, India started steadily. When Dhoni came out to bat, India were 196/4. But the men in blue needed miraculous innings to get a victory and the best man was out in the middle to make it possible. Dhoni played his natural game of attacking cricket and added 128 runs with Virat Kohli. After Virat departed, wickets started to fall from one end. But Dhoni continued smashing the Aussies and added another 140 runs with debutante Bhuvaneshwar Kumar. Dhoni scored 224 runs off 265 balls which included 24 boundaries and 6 sixes. India went on to win the match with 8 wickets. This was Dhoni’s highest score in tests. It was Dhoni under whose captaincy India became the number 1 test team of the world.
“I Would Go To War With Dhoni By My Side.” – Gary Kirsten
3. 64* vs Kings XI Punjab in Vizag, 2017: Anyone who has seen T20 cricket will know how late Dhoni comes to bat in the shortest format of the game. Despite this, he has instilled the fear of his brutal hitting in the slog overs in the minds of several bowlers. No one knows this better than Axar Patel. Dhoni was captaining Rising Pune SuperGiants then as Chennai was banned after the fixing scandal for 2 years. When Dhoni came out to bat RPS needed 95 runs of just 51 balls. The tight lines from Punjab’s bowlers didn’t let the batsmen hit big shots and Dhoni resorted to strike rotation until the last 2 overs. When the last over started 23 runs were required for a win. Everyone including the Punjab dugout, crowd, and team management was looking confident of Punjab’s win. Everyone except Dhoni would’ve put their money on Punjab that day. But What happened that day was the nightmare of any bowler coming true. Dhoni clobbered 3 sixes and a boundary to blow away Punjab’s dreams out of the park. The over read 0, 1wd,6, 0, 4 , 6 , 6. Axar Patel covered his face with his palms as Dhoni walked out of the ground like a boss after snatching the victory from Punjab’s jaws.
“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
2. 183* vs Sri Lanka in Jaipur, 2005: It didn’t take the world very long to see the destruction that Dhoni was capable of doing. This was the time when Mahi used to play only in the top gear. A flamboyant upper middle-order batsman with long hairs who took the Lankans to the screamers and became the poster boy of Indian cricket. India was chasing Sri Lanka in Jaipur and to make the target even more difficult, India’s most reliable Sachin Tendulkar got out in the first over itself. To everyone’s shock, captain Sourav Ganguly sent Dhoni at number 3 to bat with Virender Sehwag. It took Dhoni just a few overs to overshadow Sehwag who himself was a very explosive batsman and Sri Lankans were his favorite prey. Dhoni displayed a plethora of shots that day hitting sixes without moving an inch. It was sheer power at the display and the Sri Lankans were clueless. Dhoni scored a mammoth 183 runs off 145 deliveries with the help of 15 boundaries and 11 gigantic sixes. This was his highest score in the ODIs. As a result, India won the match with four overs to spare. Since then, Dhoni has been among India’s top 3 chasers. The next highest score in the match from the Indians was 39.
“When I die, the last thing I want to see is the six that Dhoni hit in the 2011 World Cup final,” -Sunil Gavaskar
- 91* vs SriLanka in Wankhede, 2011 (World Cup Final): If India cricket fans are asked which is one such inning that’s etched in everyone’s hearts and minds, all of them will point at this one. The inning that led India towards a world cup victory. The inning that brought tears and smiles all at once. India was chasing a target of 275 runs and the Sri Lankan bowling unit led by Lasith Malinga wasn’t giving away any free runs. After the wickets of Sachin, Sehwag, and Virat, Dhoni came in at number 5 as a surprise, pushing Yuvraj Singh down the order. The idea was to counter Muralitharan who posed some difficulties to Yuvraj. Dhoni built the partnership with Gautam Gambhir who played an equally important knock. It was the partnership that took India home. There’s no doubt that this was the best inning of Dhoni’s career given the impact. The then Indian captain 91 runs off just 79 balls in such a crunch situation. He hit 8 boundaries and 2 sixes. After Gambhir got out, Dhoni took India home with Yuvraj Singh. He finished the proceedings with the historic six off Nuwan Kulasekara taking the ball over the long-on boundary. “Dhoni finishes off in style,” Ravi Shastri roared from the commentary box. And the rest is history.
“I’ve always said this and I will say it again, you will always be my Captain,” -Virat Kohli
