‘Thala’ Dhoni’s Birthday: Seven Most Underrated Moments Of India's Former Captain

The legendary number 7, Mahendra Singh Dhoni has had his fair share of iconic moments and here are those that have been quite underrated.

Thala Mahi turns 41 today

Source : CSK's official twitter handle

Mahendra Singh Dhoni celebrated his 41^st birthday on Thursday with his friends and family. On social media, many former and current cricketers and his numerous fans led the birthday wishes for "Captain Cool". Images have gone viral from places like Vijayawada, where Thala’s fans have made a 41-foot long cut out of the image of his iconic six he hit off Nuwan Kulusekara in the final of the World Cup 2011 at the Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai, to win the World Cup in style for India. Dhoni has given the cricket fans several iconic and special moments throughout his career. Out of those, these seven are the most underrated moments of the legendary former Indian cricket team captain:

1. 2016 WT20I vs Bangladesh: Bangladesh was cruising through in the Super 10 of the 2016 WT20I at Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru, India. India merely managed 146 at the loss of 7 wickets after 20 overs, and Bangladesh just needed 11 off the last over. Things became tough for India as consecutive boundaries led the equation to be 2 off 3. But 3 wickets in 3 balls led India to a legendary and iconic comeback as they won the match by 1 run. But the most iconic moment came when Dhoni ran towards the stump off the last ball swiftly to run out Mustafizur Rahman.
2. 84* vs RCB in IPL 2019: CSK had themselves in trouble while chasing 162 against RCB as they needed 70 off 30 deliveries. Up came Dhoni, who scored a blistering knock of an unbeaten 84 that almost took CSK home. Dhoni had a mammoth task of getting 26 off the final over and he did give a scare to Umesh Yadav as three big hits had turned the equation into 2 off 1 but a slower ball went past Dhoni and beat him. As Dhoni tried to steal a run to force a super over, wicketkeeper Parthiv Patel hit the stumps with a direct hit and RCB won the match by 1 run.
3. Captain Cool losing cool: This incident happened in the 2019 edition of the Indian Premier League when Chennai Super Kings took on the Rajasthan Royals. Chasing 152, Ben Stokes bowled an above-waist full toss which was initially deemed no-ball but under the influence of the square leg umpire, the decision was reversed. A fuming Dhoni walked down the pitch from the dugout, in the middle of the match, to argue with the umpires. CSK won the match at the end though and Dhoni was fined 50 percent of his match fees for that particular behaviour.
4. 70* vs RCB in IPL 2018: Reeling at 74/4, in their first season after their expulsion, CSK made a rough start. But then, everyone was treated to a MS Dhoni-Ambati Rayudu show as Dhoni played a quickfire knock of 70 off just 34 deliveries alongside Rayudu as they chased down the target of 206 with two balls remaining.
5. IPL 2010 final: Kieron Pollard was looking to guide Mumbai Indians past Chennai Super Kings in the final of the IPL 2010 until Dhoni made use of his intelligence and presence of mind and adjusted the field. Moments later, Pollard was caught off Albie Morkel. CSK went on to win the final by 22 runs.
6. 54* vs KXIP in IPL 2010: Chasing 193 in the semifinal of the IPL 2010, Punjab were looking really strong but Mahi arrived on the pitch with some intention as his marauding 54 resulted in him scoring the required 16 off the final over as CSK chased down one of their highest totals. The chase, till date, is one of the fondest memories of CSK in IPL.
7. The Ultimate Selfless Mahi: Mahi is one of the most humble and selfless cricketers of all time. The memorable moment of his selflessness was at display during the farewell match of ‘Dada’ (Sourav Ganguly). During the 2008 Test match against Australia, chasing a big target of 342, Australia succumbed under pressure and fell like deck of cards as they were reduced to 192/9. A match that was all but won, Dhoni went over to Ganguly and gave him the captaincy and Dada led the Indian Cricket Team for one last time in what is one of the most beautiful moments in cricket’s history.