MS Dhoni: A wonderful cricketing chapter about to finish

In 2004, a gentleman came up the ranks from a relatively unfamiliar city of India, Ranchi and for the next 15 years, he went on to own the most glorious career any cricketer across the world would ever desire for.

He captained an intensely passionate cricket loving nation for almost a decade and successfully led the county into winning the most prestigious trophies - the inaugural T20 World Cup, the most awaited ODI World Cup after 28 years, followed by winning the Champions Trophy.

MS Dhoni also successfully led team India to the #1 ranked Test cricket playing team for the very first time in the history. He continued his winning ways even in the most renowned cricketing league, the Indian Premier League– 2010 and 2011 and very recently, back in 2018.

As a player, he emerged into the world best finisher through his “slow-poison” batting style giving hope to the opposition until the very last over and then, taking it away with a series of magnificent “helicopter” shots at the end. India was never out of the game until he was at the crease and there have been two isolated occasions where India lost a game despite his presence.

And, when he believed that the time was right, without any intimation, one fine day, he quietly walked away from the Test arena and continued his cricketing journey in ODIs and T20Is only to eventually pass on the leadership responsibility to the next generation.

Australia v India: 3rd Test - Day 5

Today, admittedly Dhoni isn’t the same young, powerful, energetic sportsperson anymore. With age, gradually the strong hitting powers have faded away. Once regarded the best finisher of the game of cricket isn’t able to win the games frequently.

As it happened with Sachin Tendulkar and Sourav Ganguly, the very fans that loved him immensely are now questioning his worth. For the last two years, every time, Dhoni had not managed the win the games for India with the bat, the fans had almost demanded for a replacement and just when the voices started getting louder and unbearable, MSD showed a glimpse of his younger days, showcasing his batting powers and most importantly, once again, winning the games for India.

In the recently concluded India versus Australia series, Dhoni yet again exhibited his value and surprisingly for almost everyone, ended up with an award of Man of the Series. Though, he has achieved far greater heights in his career but winning the title and most importantly, contributing to the winning cause once again, at this very stage of his career, particularly when almost everyone wanted to sack him, is extremely vital for his confidence even for someone of his composure.

Dhoni is most likely to bid farewell to the cricketing world after the upcoming World Cup 2019. With just few ODIs, T20I and IPL in between, rather than scrutinizing his every below-par performance, let’s just simply sit back and enjoy the charisma of one of India’s finest cricketer, Mahendra Singh Dhoni.