MS Dhoni Retirement + Tribute Thread

[vcs]

If only he hadn't played that stupid shot to Broad when we were starting to build a lead in the 2nd Test in 2011.. we might have had a chance to compete in that series. But anyway yeah, he did help us save a Test in 2007 and batted well in all the games, and was decent in 2014 as well.

 

[StephenZA]

A man who's leadership defined him and his team, in the best way possible. And always a gentlemen.

 

[srbhkshk]

He had a strange way of making it work at places where his technique failed him, lunging forward at every delivery and just refusing to care about bouncers. It didn't work often, but without it he would average like 7 in pace friendly wickets.

 

[vcs]

His best Test knock was that glorious double century against Australia in the first match in 2013, what an innings.

 

[honestbharani]

He was a powerhouse batsman in India and often times, better than some of our middle order batsmen in the SENA. Good enough to be termed "very good" in my book and overall I would say his test captaincy was "great" than just good too.

 

[trundler]

Dhoni alone probably reduced the averages of spinners who played under him by 2-3 runs. Very rare to see keepers who take as many stumping chances as he did let alone create opportunities for the bowler through their guile. One of the best captains and keepers ever while also somehow managing to top the ICC rankings batting at 6. Incredible. Even towards the end he was one of the better keepers going around.

 

[honestbharani]

Hopefully this frees him up even more in the IPL and we see a bit more of the Mahi of the old, even if less consistent.

 

[srbhkshk]

Also, it must be remembered that he was our best pace bowler in the 2011 England tour.

 

[vcs]

Some of his early career ODI knocks were really special, remember those chases in Pakistan with Yuvraj.

 

[duffer]

Thanks for everything MS.

I'll treasure your outings for CSK now. What a beautiful, beautiful man.

Raina hanging it up for India too

 

[SillyCowCorner1]

Suresh Raina has now joined MS in this ‘journey’.

 

[Daemon]

Some of his early career ODI knocks were really special, remember those chases in Pakistan with Yuvraj.

Yesss haha came here just to post about those chases. That was him at his peak.

 

[Teja.]

I remember being in 6th-7th grade and interest in cricket seemed to be wading among the kids in school around Greg Chappell's regin with a lot of defection to football, in particular the EPL.

Then Dhoni came along and created a whole another fan bloc of new generation cricket fans.

 

[srbhkshk]

Yuvi , MSD and Raina, what a glorious middle order it was in ODIs, it's unfortunate that all three of them fell off their highs for different reasons but when it was at it's peak no total was beyond reach. We'd be lucky to get anything resembling that middle order in the next whatever years I think.

 

[Spark]

His best Test knock was that glorious double century against Australia in the first match in 2013, what an innings.

Aus were seriously in that game too. Lyon was bowling well and had dismissed a few top order batsmen with good deliveries, Clarke had set up a solid first innings score etc etc, but Dhoni just annihilated all of that with that innings.

 

[vcs]

Yeah, for a 4-0 scoreline, it was a pretty interesting and competitive series.

 

[ankitj]

I always felt he had something special, beyond cricket talent, that made his team better. Its no coincidence that India reached 1 only after he became the captain.

Yeah I felt that too. Well before he was in running for captaincy (it came as a surprise when it did anyway), I remember feeling strongly that he will be good captaincy prospect even though Sehwag and Yuvraj were senior to him. He seemed destined to great things so often in ways that was unusual for Indian cricketers back then. Everything under Ganguly in contrast seemed to take too much effort and aggro for too little results.

 

[indiaholic]

No you didn't. What convinced you about his captaincy potential at that point in time?

 

[ankitj]

No you didn't. What convinced you about his captaincy potential at that point in time?

I was not on this forum so can't prove but I did. He just seemed to be calm and in control more than other younger lot at the time. Of course I couldn't have predicted that he will win 3 icc tournaments but thought he had potential in him.

 

[h_hurricane]

I am a bit surprised that MSD's 76* in the first test of 2007 tour of England hasn't been mentioned here. One of the best innings of pure grit I have seen the last innings of a test match. India was lucky that Sreesanth wasn't given lbw to Monty there, but the series victory in England, first in 2 decades since 1986 wouldn't have happened without that.

Overall, an ATG in ODIs and an under-rated very very good cricketer in tests. Hats off MSD for a glittering career.