Mahendra Singh Dhoni has announced that he is standing down as the captain of India’s limited overs teams – both ODI and T20. As is typical of the man, the announcement came a bit out of the blue.
It will be bizarre to see Dhoni in an India team but not as the captain. The last time Dhoni played for India and wasn’t the captain was in October 2008 when current Team India coach, Anil Kumble, was in charge. This legendary captain’s retirement trembled the whole cricket fraternity and fan world.
What makes Dhoni different from other cricketers, is the way he deals and reacts to pressure situations. The dynamic right-hander has often won praise from the cricket cognoscenti for his ice-cool temperament.
As known for his calm and cool head on the field, he showed us his tactical prowess in many situations of game-play which worked out successful and resulted in many victories for the Indian cricket team.
Dhoni led his country in 199 ODIs and 72 Twenty20 internationals, also taking charge of 60 Tests between 2008 and 2014, to hold the overall record for the most international matches as captain with 331. In terms of victories, he is the most successful captain in all three formats in Indian cricket history.
On the Other hand, it’s been a million dollar question that How Dhoni spent his last day as captain?
While the rest of the cricket world received a sudden jolt with MS Dhoni’s decision to relinquish the captaincy for India’s limited-overs teams, the man himself carried on as if it was no big deal.
MS Dhoni’s last act before he had stepped down as India’s limited-overs captain was a 30-minute long meeting with his Jharkhand team-mates on their Ranji Trophy campaign
Useful Tips and Motivational Spirit for the Young Players:
The Mr. Unpredictable chatted with upcoming youngsters about the highs and lows on a campaign as this was Jharkhand’s first-ever semi-final since their entry in 2004. He gave many useful tips in the wicketkeeping as well as in batting for the young players like Ishan Kishan.
Range-hitting session:
Much after Jharkhand were bundled out in the final session, Dhoni, with four bats of varying sizes and thickness, strode for a range-hitting session on the center wicket. And connect he did, hitting balls to all corners of the old VCA ground in Civil Lines. He enjoyed hitting the balls miles and miles as he does every time.
Chat with MSK Prasad( Chairman of selectors):
And amid all this, there was a lengthy chat with MSK Prasad, the chairman of selectors, even as local photographers clicked away, ever so certain that the discussion was on India’s team composition for the England series.
After everyone had dispersed, he rallied his team together for a small dinner. He walked out relaxed as if nothing in the world had changed for him even if everyone else, particularly in the cricket fraternity. It was just same when he dropped the bombshell of his Test retirement minutes after a post-match press conference in Melbourne where there was no inkling of what was to follow.
After Ricky Ponting and Stephen Fleming, Mahendra Singh Dhoni has played the third highest number of ODIs as skipper of the Indian cricket team. And he always remains one of the best captains in the Indian Cricket history ever.