MS Dhoni Retires: Top T20I Knocks By India's Most Successful Captain

The best Indian finisher to have ever played the game has never won a Man of the Match award in any T20 game but his heroic acts batting down the order helped India win many thrilling encounters.

Photo: (BCCI) Twitter

Team India's 157th ODI cricketer, Mahendra Singh Dhoni's journey started in 2004 when he played for the Indian cricket team against Bangladesh at Chittagong. The two-time World Cup winning captain on Sunday took to social media to announce his retirement from international cricket.

The best Indian finisher to have ever played the game has never won a Man of the Match award in any T20 game but his heroic acts batting down the order helped India win many thrilling encounters.

Dhoni led a young Indian team to win the inaugural edition of the T20 World Cup on 24th September, 2007. During his illustrious T20I career, Dhoni played 98 matches and scored over 1,617 runs at an impressive strike rate of 126.13.

- 46 (28) vs Sri Lanka, Chandigarh 2009 Chasing a 206-run target set by Sri Lanka, openers Sehwag and Gambhir gave a fiery start to their squad and managed to score 58 runs in the first six overs before Gambhir departed and was replaced by Dhoni. Dhoni held one end and played a mix of offensive and defensive shots as 'Man of the match' Yuvraj (60*) and Sehwag later went big guns. By the time Dhoni got dismissed, India was already on top and the visitors had all but lost the game.

(Image: Twitter)

 

- 56 (36) vs England, Bengaluru 2017 This is the game in which the former skipper of the Indian cricket team went on to score his first fifty in the shortest format of the game, also his personal best in T20 format. In this match too, he held one end as Yuvraj Singh and Suresh Raina displayed a remarkable batting performance to decimate English bowlers. First team India posted a mammoth 202/6 and England got all out for just 127 runs, courtesy wrist-spinner Yuzvendra Chahal's six-wicket haul.

Photo: AFP

- 33 (23) vs Pakistan, Ahmedabad 2012 Team India's arch-rivals Pakistan had put them in a spot of bother as they bagged some quick wickets to completely dominate the hosts and reduce them to 88/3 in just 12 overs when MS Dhoni joined Yuvraj Singh in the middle. While Yuvraj went to smash the Pakistani bowlers, hit them huge sixes and fours all over the ground, Dhoni held one end strongly and ensured his team didn't lose another wicket. The 97-run partnership off just 44 balls pushed India's total to 192/5 and Pakistan fell short by 11 runs during their chase.

- 45 (33) vs South Africa, Durban 2007 Batting first, Team India was in a tough position and reeled at 61 after losing four wickets when 20-year-old Rohit Sharma was joined by skipper MS Dhoni. The pair showed resistance and staged a fightback as they went to stitch 85 run partnership for the fifth wicket. The Indian bowling attack took the advantage of the momentum. Speedster R.P. Singh took four wickets while 'king of spin' Harbhajan Singh and lethal paceman S. Sreesanth picked a pair each as South Africa were restricted to 116/9.

Photo: AFP

- 36 (18) vs Australia, Durban 2007 This innings played by MS Dhoni was another proof of his mastery in crisis situations and his ability to 'finish off things in style'. In the World T20 match, Yuvraj got dismissed after scoring 70 off just 30 balls, India still needed some more runs to reach a safe total as Australia had some really impressive big hitters like Symonds, Hayden and Gilchrist. Dhoni's fiery knock (36 runs off just 18 balls) powered team India to 188/5. Later, India won the match by 15 runs.

Photo: AFP