The International Cricketing Journey Of Mahendra Singh Dhoni ( AKA Captain Cool, Mahi, Thala)

Welcome back to SlogVlog. As today is MS Dhoni’s birthday, I want to create a post on his career. I know you must be wondering why I am making this post since I already made another post on his career. I am making this post because let’s just say I didn’t like the other one, so that’s why I am doing this.

Early Life:

Mahendra Singh Dhoni was born on July 7th, 1981, to Pan Singh Dhoni and Devaki Devi. Dhoni initially had an interest in badminton and football, and he had excelled in these sports. Dhoni had been playing in local cricket tournaments organised by his football coach and he had impressed everyone with his wicket-keeping skills, and he earned the spot as a wicket-keeper in the commando cricket club.

Dhoni’s idols growing up were Adam Gilchrist, Sachin Tendulkar, Bollywood actor Amitabh Bachchan, and singer Latha Mangeshkar.

International Career:

ODI CRICKET:

Dhoni made his ODI debut on December 23rd, 2004, against Bangladesh. In that match, he got run out in the first ball itself. In his 5th match, he scored his first ODI hundred against Pakistan in Vishakhapatnam. He scored 148 runs off only 123 deliveries. Dhoni’s 148 surpassed the earlier record for the highest score by an Indian wicket-keeper, A record he would break at the end of the year by scoring his highest ODI score 183* off only 145 deliveries. Dhoni ended the series with 346 runs under his belt and won the Man Of The Series Award.

Now let us fast forward to the 2007 CWC.

2007 CRICKET WORLD CUP:

India had a horrible start to the 2007 CWC. They had lost their first match against Bangladesh by five wickets, and Dhoni got out for a duck in that match. In the next game, India trashed Bermuda by 257 runs, but Dhoni only scored 29 off 25 balls. Then again, India lost to Sri Lanka, thus ending their 2007 world cup campaign.

After the world cup team India didn’t do anything much. They had the 1st T20 World Cup which I’ll talk about later. India didn’t do much other than that, so let us fast forward to the 2011 World Cup.

2011 CRICKET WORLD CUP:

This World Cup was Dhoni’s first ODI world cup as captain. In this world cup, Dhoni didn’t score much in the first few matches. In the final against Sri Lanka, India had to chase 275 runs. Dhoni promoted himself up the order before Yuvraj Singh because Murlidharan was bowling. He and Murlidharan were teammates in the IPL they played together for CSK. Dhoni quickly chased the target, making it even more special by finishing the match with a huge six of Nuwan Kulasekara. He scored 91* runs off 79 balls. India won the world cup after 28 years.

2013 CHAMPIONS TROPHY:

India entered the 2013 Champions Trophy as one of the strongest teams. The fans expected big things from them and they delivered to the expectations by winning the Champions Trophy. Dhoni became the first captain to win all three ICC trophies. However, Dhoni didn’t have a good Champions trophy scoring only 27 runs, but his tactics had worked brilliantly.

2015 CRICKET WORLD CUP:

The 2015 World Cup was held in Australia and New Zealand. This world cup was different compared to the 2011 world cup. Many young players like Mohammad Shami and Mohit Sharma played, but this turned out to be excellent as India’s fielding had gotten much better with more young players. Dhoni had a good world cup with the bat. He scored two fifties, one against Zimbabwe (85) and the other against Australia in the Semi-Final, which India unfortunately lost. In this match, he scored 65. Dhoni became the first-ever Indian captain to win all the group stage matches.

2017 CHAMPIONS TROPHY:

India entered the champions trophy as defending champions. The only change was that Dhoni was not the captain. Virat Kohli was given the captaincy in January of that year. This was Dhoni’s first championship in 10 years, where he was not the captain. India delivered to the fan’s expectation, with Dhoni even hitting one half-century against Sri Lanka. India had reached the finals of the champions trophy, but unfortunately, they were beaten by arch-rivals Pakistan.

2019 CRICKET WORLD CUP:

Team India again entered the world cup as favourites. This time with a much stronger team than the 2015 world cup. Unfortunately, team India lost in the Semi-Finals against New Zealand. Dhoni, on the other hand, had a decent world cup with the bat. He scored two fifties, one against West Indies and the other in a losing effort against New Zealand. After this Semi-Final, we never saw Dhoni on the cricket field again. Of course, he had come back for the IPL in 2020, but this was his last International Cricket Match.

T20 CRICKET:

Dhoni made his T20 debut against South Africa on December 1st 2006. He got out for 0 runs that match.

2007 T20 WORLD CUP:

India entered the 2007 T20 World cup as a different team. Most of the players didn’t play in the tournament, so India got youngsters like Robin Uthappa. This turned out to be a great decision as their fielding became good. And team India got a new captain. Can you guess who it is? It is Dhoni! Dhoni was captaining India for the first time. Dhoni had a decent world cup with the bat, but the most remembered moment was when Dhoni saw Yuvraj hit six sixes in a row! Well, Yuvraj hitting the sixes was more fun to watch but still. India faced Pakistan in a thriller final which India won. They were crowned the inaugural T20 World Cup champs.

Let us now fast forward to the 2014 T20 World Cup.

2014 T20 WORLD CUP:

ICC held the 2014 T20 world cup in Bangladesh for the first time. India, of course, came in as favourites, and they delivered to the fans’ expectations by winning every match. India was in the 2014 T20 world cup finals but unfortunately lost to Sri Lanka in the Final. Dhoni, on the other hand, did not have a good world cup with the bat. He only batted in 3 matches making only 28 runs

2016 T20 WORLD CUP:

India was hosting the T20 world cup for the first time. They were favourites to win the world cup. India had a horrible start losing against NZ by 47 runs in the first game, but they played like a champion side in the following rounds. They soared past every team they played after the first match. India, unfortunately, lost to West Indies in the Semi-Finals. Dhoni, on the other hand, had a decent world cup scoring 89 runs with the bat. This was the last ICC trophy for Dhoni as captain.

Dhoni played many T20 matches after he retired as a captain, and he has the most runs in T20 without scoring a single 50 until February 2017. Dhoni’s last T20 match was against Australia in 2019, where he hit 40 runs off 22 balls.

CAPTAINCY:

Dhoni was named captain of the Indian squad for the inaugural T20 world cup in 2007. Dhoni’s team India went on to win the T20 world cup by beating Pakistan in a thriller final. In 2008 after Anil Kumble retired from International cricket, Dhoni became India’s full-time captain. Under his captaincy, for the time, India became the number 1 test side. Under Dhoni’s reign, India also won the cricket world cup after 28 years, and they won the champions trophy two years later. Under Dhoni’s captaincy, India even won two Asia Cups and one ICC TEST MACE. Dhoni retired as a captain in January 2017. He captained India for about 10 years.

Dhoni retired from international cricket on August 15th, 2020 ( which was sadly on my birthday.)

Thank you, Dhoni, for contributing so much to Indian Cricket you have been an inspiration to all of us. Continue being like that.

Happy Birthday Mahendra Singh Dhoni ( AKA Captain Cool, Mahi, Thala)

Hey guys, I hope you enjoy reading this post on MSD’s International cricketing career. If you liked the post then please hit the like button and if you want to be the first one to see my new posts then please follow me.

Until Later! Bye!

Thank you!