On August 15, 2020, Mahendra Singh Dhoni announced his retirement with a short video and a message that read “Thanks a lot for your love and support throughout from 1929 hrs consider me as Retired”.
It was some time in the making, considering that the last international game that Dhoni played for India came over 13 months before he eventually announced his retirement. But like we’ve come to expect from him, the way he went about making the information public was typical Dhoni. No farewell match, no in-stadium speeches…
Having already retired from Test cricket in 2014, Dhoni’s announcement implies that this marks the end of his limited-overs international career as well.
As a wicketkeeper batsman and a captain, Dhoni has done wonders for India. Here, we will take a look at some of the numbers that define his hugely successful international career…
Runs scored between the two run outs
Dhoni’s international career started and ended in the ODI format. His first international game was an ODI against Bangladesh on December 23, 2004. His last international came against New Zealand in what was the 2019 ODI World Cup semi-final that was played across two days – July 9 and 10, 2019. Dhoni was dismissed by a run out on both occasions, scoring zero on debut and 50 in his last game for India. In the 15 years in between, he scored mountains of runs.
In Tests, Dhoni made his debut against Sri Lanka in December 2005 and played his last match against Australia in December 2014. He scored 4876 runs in the 90 matches he played, averaging 38.09 with six hundreds and 33 fifties.
He played 350 matches overall in the ODI format and finished with 10773 runs at an average of 50.57. He also had 10 hundreds and 73 fifties against his name. His T20I debut was against South Africa in December 2006 and his last game in the format was against Australia in February 2019. He managed 1617 runs in the 98 matches he played, averaging 37.6 with a strike rate of 126.13.
Dhoni, the Gloveman
While Dhoni’s captaincy and batting skills are well documented and discussed, his wicket keeping abilities aren’t often mentioned in the same vein. Dhoni finished his career as one of the best wicketkeeper-batsman ever, especially in the limited overs format, and he always prided his skills behind the wickets, innovating always and effecting lightning fast dismissals throughout his career.
Dhoni’s 444 ODI dismissals is the third-most in the format and his 123 stumpings are the most by any keeper. In T20Is, his 91 dismissals and 34 stumpings are the highest so far.
Captain cool
Dhoni relinquished his captaincy much before his retirement from the limited-overs format, but he leaves behind a rich legacy as one of the most winningest captains, not just for India, but in the cricket world in general. Dhoni is the only captain to win all three limited-overs ICC titles and he also led India to the number one Test ranking. Under his leadership, India won the T20 World Cup in 2007, reached rank one in Tests in 2009, won the ODI World Cup in 2011 and the Champions Trophy in 2013. Dhoni led India in 200 ODIs, 72 T20Is and 60 Tests, giving him a total of 332 – the most as captain for any player in international cricket.
Picture Credit : Google