Mahendra Singh Dhoni, one of the biggest stars in the history of Indian cricket, turns 40 today. Dhoni has played an important role in taking Indian cricket to new heights. He is the only captain in the world to win all ICC trophies. His attitude towards the game made him different from others. Today on Mahi's birthday, lets know about his journey in international cricket.
Ganguly was the one to give Dhoni his first chance.
Born on July 07, 1981 in Ranchi, Mahendra Singh Dhoni had knocked on the doors of Team India in the year 2000 after his excellent performance in the domestic cricket. But even after consistently performing well, Dhoni was not getting selected in the Indian team. There was no permanent wicketkeeper in Team India in those days. Dhoni did not lose courage and continued to struggle. The responsibility of wicket keeping was handed over to Rahul Dravid but being a makeshift wicketkeeper on important occasions proved to be harmful to the team. Later, at the end of 2004, during the Bangladesh tour, Indian captain Sourav Ganguly gave Dhoni his first chance to play for the team. Dhoni was selected for Team India on the Bangladesh tour, and he got a chance to play his first match for India. However, Dhoni could not do anything special in the debut match and was run out for zero.
Dada always supported Dhoni
Ganguly recognized Dhoni's talent. All that was needed now, was to believe and support his talent. Dada did the same. Even after a bad tour of Bangladesh, he selected Mahi in the team as a wicketkeeper against Pakistan in 2005. This time Dhoni did not disappoint his captain and played a blistering innings of 148 runs in Visakhapatnam. Shortly after this, Mahi showed his skills in international cricket by playing match-winning innings of 183 runs against Sri Lanka.
Dhoni became the world's number one batsman in ODI cricket.
Soon Dhoni became the best batsman in the world cricket. Dhoni achieved the first position in the ICC ODI rankings in just 34 innings of ODI cricket. Before him, no player till date has been able to achieve this fate. He achieved his place in the Indian team by performing consistently against Pakistan, England, Australia, West Indies, and South Africa. Mahi became a reliable player of the team in all three formats.
Captaincy in 2007
India's performance in the 2007 ODI World Cup was very poor. India had to face the defeat against Bangladesh. BCCI handed over the captaincy to Mahi. Dhoni got a chance to lead Team India in the 2007 T20 World Cup. His precise decisions and his keen eye to understand the game made India the world champion.
India won the World Cup after 28 years.
That was the first moment in 2011 , when Dhoni settled in the heart of every Indian. He won the 2011 ODI World Cup for India. Thus after 28 years, Team India triumphed once again. Dhoni became the first captain in the world to win the ICC T20 and ICC ODI World Cup.
Won the Champion trophy in 2013
The Champions Trophy was held in England in 2013. Once again , Dhoni won the title for India on the basis of his accurate decisions and best strategies. Dhoni became the only captain in the world to win all ICC trophies.
He retired from Test cricket in 2014.
Mahi retired from Test cricket in 2014 after scoring 4876 runs in 90 Tests for India at an average of 38.09. Dhoni scored 1 double century, 6 centuries, and 33 half-centuries in Test cricket. His highest score in Test cricket was 224.
He played his last International match in 2019.
After he retired from Test cricket, in 2017, Dhoni decided to quit captaincy in ODIs and T20 Internationals. Mahi played his last international match against New Zealand on July 09, 2019, during the 2019 ODI World Cup. On August 15, 2020, Mahendra Singh Dhoni retired from international cricket.