4 reasons why India should consider itself lucky to have Dhoni

India has produced a number of great cricketing icons who have gone on to make the country proud through their on-field accomplishments. MS Dhoni is one such gem who has made the country proud through not only his on-field exploits but also by the way he conducts himself off the field.

Dhoni has been a great batsman who has scored close to 10,000 runs in ODIs. He has been India's most successful captain, winning multiple tournaments for the country. He has also been the best wicketkeeper-batsman India has ever produced.

The former Indian captain is a player who is loved by millions of people across the lengths and breadths of the country. Let's have a look at his contribution to Indian cricket over the years and understand as to why India should consider itself lucky to have a player of his calibre.

#1 Most successful captain

Dhoni is India's most successful captain

India has won only two World Cups since the inception of the tournament. Captaining the team to a World Cup victory is a huge achievement which any cricketer would be proud of. India won the 2011 World Cup under Dhoni with the captain scoring a 91 not out in the Finals.

Apart from the World Cup victory, The Jharkhand man has captained the side to the 2013 ICC Champions Trophy and the 2007 T20I World Cup victories as well. India was ranked number 1 for the first time in its history in 2009 under him.

He has the highest number of ODI victories both at home and away among the Indian captains. The wicketkeeper has captained India in 60 tests and has won 27 of them with a win percentage of 45. He has led the team to 110 victories in the 199 ODIs he has captained and is the captain with the 2nd highest number of wins in ODIs as the captain. He is also the only captain to win all the three ICC tournaments.

#2 Best wicket keeping batsman

Dhoni has been India's most successful wicket keeping batsman

India, for a long time, struggled to find a wicketkeeper who could bat. Azharuddin and Ganguly tried out a number of players like Kiran More, Nayan Mongia, Vijay Dahiya, Deep Dasgupta at the slot finding little success.

Dhoni has been a phenomenon and he has proved to be the best Wicket Keeping batsman India has ever produced. He has scored close to 5,000 runs in Tests at an average of almost 40. He has scored 9758 runs in 306 matches at an average of 52 in ODIs. He also has 389 dismissals behind the stumps in ODIs

The 36-year-old in 497 matches across different formats of the game has 776 dismissals to his name and is 3rd in the list of maximum dismissals by a wicketkeeper behind Boucher and Gilchrist

The Ranchi man is the 12th highest run-getter in ODIs at present and there is every chance that he might end up in the list of top 10 run getters in ODIs by the time he hangs up his boots. In addition, he is also ranked 4th in the list of highest dismissals by wicketkeepers.

#3 Best finisher in World Cricket

Dhoni's finishing skills have bailed out the team on multiple occasions

Modern teams always attach great importance to finishers because of their ability to finish games favourably for the team even after an unfavourable start. Australia of the late 90s and early 2000s were extremely dominant because of the presence of Micheal Bevan.

India didn't have a great finisher for a long time and this void was again filled by Dhoni. He has the highest number of Not Outs(72) in ODI history which gives a clear indication of how well he finishes games. He has a stupendous average of 99.17 in successful run chases for his team.

The former Indian skipper has taken his side to a number of victories like the 91 not out in the 2011 World Cup, 85 not out against Zimbabwe in 2015 World Cup or the 45 not out against Sri Lanka in Port of Spain.

#4 Inspirational life

Dhoni's childhood home

Dhoni is a man from Ranchi, the capital of the small state of Jharkhand. A man from a small town going on to become the captain of the Indian team is a phenomenal inspiration for a number of upcoming cricketers.

The inspiration which Dhoni provides to budding cricketers can be gauged from the fact that while the Indian team was predominantly filled with players from metro cities before Dhoni's arrival. It now has players coming from every nook and corner of the country. The game has spread its base and now it is possible for even a poor boy from a rural background to make it to the Indian team taking the former captain as an inspiration

The Chennai Super Kings captain has had a humongous impact on Indian cricket. He has made a huge revolution in the way cricket is played in this country. Irrespective of whether one is a fan of this man or not, everyone has to acknowledge the man's contribution to Indian cricket and respect him for the same.