Hi friends this is yet another article about cricket and this time we deal with the captain of India, Mahaendra Singh Dhoni. Let us not discuss more about statistics, rather we will just discuss about his nature of batting and also his different approach as a captain of India.
His best competitor is his best friend in the team Yuvraj Singh and in fact it was a tough decision in choosing Dhoni as the captain, leaving Yuvraj behind, but still many will accept the fact that Yuvraj batting is the best when compared to that Dhoni, because many experts believed that Dhoni most often doesn’t play proper cricketing shots like that of Sachin, Dravid etc, but he makes the best use of his power and can very easily clear the ground.
I guess I witnessed Dhoni’s innings first time in Kenya, where India ‘A’ played a triangular series and I remember that Dhoni smashed a couple of century and as usual he struck many sixes and that too very huge, which naturally made him a star but still he was not the official wicketkeeper of India. Dinesh Kartik was the wicket keeper at that time and he was also making his debut, but was not performing well at that time and this was a great chance for Dhoni to get a place in the team and he also got the opportunity.
I first saw him in an international match against Bangladesh in their country and I believe he got the opportunity to bat only in the last over of the Indian innings, where India batted first. He managed to hit a six in the first ball he faced and many people believed that he is a powerful hitter, because it is impossible for any new batsman to hit a boundary in the first ball he faced and as per people belief he proved to be a very aggressive player but later when he was assigned as the captain of India, he started to play a mature innings and also played many match winning knocks, with less aggressive shots.
Dhoni was a football player for his state, to be specific he was a goalkeeper in his team and the turning point of his life occurred when a wicket keeper of a local cricket club failed to attend the match and fortunate for him he was asked to keep, since he had some experience as a goal keeper. Dhoni accepted it and this was the best decision he would have taken in his life, which has turned his entire carrier and also made him one of the famous sportsman of the country and also the best cricketer of the world.
When he was selected for the international match people recognized him for his match winning 148 runs against Pakistan, and in that match he came at one down and smashed all the Pakistani bowlers. This match was played at Vishakapatnam in 2005 and this was the fifth match for Dhoni.
This made him one of the aggressive batsmen in the world and moreover he turned to become the power hitter of world cricket. 2005 was a great year for Dhoni and again he proved in a match verses Sri Lanka by hitting 183 runs, not out in Jaipur and this also happens to be the best ever score by a wicket keeper in an ODI cricket. He scored 183 runs in just 145 balls.
Then he replaced Kartik as the wicket keeper of the Indian cricket and form that time onwards there is no looking back for Dhoni and the greatest moment in his life came in 2007, where he was appointed as the Indian T 20 captain for the world cup, which was held at South Africa. His greatest achievement was leading his team to win the T 20 world cup and this was a major ICC trophy for India after India won the 1983 ODI world cup, under the captainship of the legend all rounder Kapil Dev.
Indian team was given a hero’s welcome and from the airport in Mumbai they were paraded to the stadium and he also proved that the presence of youth in the team will definitely give a boost for the team and as a result the winning percentage of the team also increases.
Even though he was a successful captain in ODI, still he was not considered for the captaincy post for test matches, where Kumble led the team. But Dhoni became Kumble became Dhoni’s successor and he also got the opportunity to lead the side for the test matches also.
As a test captain he did wonders for India and so far in 9 matches as captaincy, India won 6 matches and drew 3 matches and never lost a single match. Apart from the T 20 world cup, he also led the team to win the triangular series in Australia by beating them in the best of three final 2-0. He also led the team for India becoming No 1 in ODI, test and T 20 and he is proving to be the best captain of India.
A recent statistics showed that Dhoni is the richest cricketer in the world with the income of over 50 crores and he also bet Sachin. He is also considered as the Captain Cool as he never gets tensed and this is also a key for his success and also the main reason for the team’s win.
During the first season IPL, Chennai bought him for 6 crores and this became price for a player in the first player, which was bet by Flintoff and Pieterson in the second season of IPL. In fact Chennai virtually become his second home and reports also said he has a flat in Chennai and he is also considered as the icon player for Chennai. Every Chennai fan loves him and next to Sachin, Dhoni is the favorite for all the kids and let us hope he also performs well in the future matches and gives many win for India.