MS Dhoni Retirement + Tribute Thread

[Pap Finn Keighl]

Arguably Greatest ODI Cricketer ever

Greatest Captain ever

Top 5 ODI Batsman of All Time

Greatest ODI WK-Batsman Ever

Greatest ever Asian WK-Batsman in tests

2nd most popular cricketer in last 30 years

Produced more Thug Life moments than any other cricketer ever.

He could have achieved more with bat if batted more in top order. Even in tests averaged 55 from 30 innings when batted above number 7.

 

[honestbharani]

Srinivasan: 'I exercised all my authority as BCCI president' to save Dhoni's captaincy in 2011

"One of the selectors wanted to remove Dhoni as the ODI captain" after India's 4-0 Test series loss in Australia

www.espncricinfo.com

This is a lie, isn't it?

Unfortunately nothing new to see here. Why do you think it took a change of guard in BCCI before Ganguly was dumped as captain?

But the most interesting aspect there is that Mohinder Amarnath wanted to remove MSD as LO captain because he lost the away tests 8-0. I mean, I don't think its ever possible to be on the wrong against Srini mama, but Jimmy seems to have achieved that.

 

[cricketsavant]

So just as a general FYI: there's a reason that we have a long-standing policy that retirement and tribute threads are not the place to be digging up old controversies, because this is inevitably the result.

No more about this topic, please.

Fair enough but surely one should be allowed to voice an opinion without being abused. But I can start a thread on the issue yo discuss it separately.

 

[ankitj]

'If we give Dhoni the bat, he'll break it!' - Tales of Dhoni, the domestic cricketer

Off the international stage, what was Dhoni like? His state team-mates on the man away from the spotlight

www.espncricinfo.com

View from those who saw Dhoni play domestic and junior cricket.

 

[honestbharani]

‘We were all awestruck’: When MS Dhoni drove team bus from ground to hotel in Nagpur during 2008 Test series

MS Dhoni retires: Former India batsman VVS Laxman recalled some quirky memories he shared with former India captain MS Dhoni.

www.hindustantimes.com

That is pretty awesome.

 

[Cruxdude]

What a great career he has had. So many memories from an ATG career that I almost saw in entirety. Still remember me running to the hostel common room to see him smashing up Pakistan along with Sehwag during that 148. Him and Yuvraj finishing up chases against Pakistan with ridiculous ease was such a change from the times when India used to struggle chasing. Winning a match scoring 15 runs in the last over with last man Ishant at the other end. Winning a T20 WC, 2011 WC, Champions Trophy and the number 1 ranked test side is the stuff of dreams.

He did frustrate me a lot in his later years when he couldn't/wouldn't hit out and would get bogged down in T20s. And oh my the ridiculously defensive captaincy in test matches. But really a career for the ages that we will miss now that he is no longer an option.

 

[ankitj]

How good was Dhoni as a wicketkeeper amongst all time great keepers? He was unorthodox but some of the stuff he pulled off with stumpings and run outs is quite unmatched IMO. Has plenty of experience keeping to spinners of India and also to Murali during IPL. Checks all boxes doesn't he?

 

[OverratedSanity]

His keeping, just like his batting and captaincy, was far more suited to the limited overs format than tests imo. With potentially more runout and stumping opportunities in the shorter game, his fast hands could affect those dismissals as well as anyone ever. I don't think he was top tier against spinners otherwise, and sucked st times when the ball would move after passing the bat (his keeping in England in the 2011 tour was very untidy even though I don't think he actually dropped any easy catches). Still, I'd say he was certainly very good, just not elite like someone like Healy.

 

[honestbharani]

His keeping got progressively better with experience too, which is very important. And while the shorter format argument maybe true, it does not take away how good he was at home keeping to the spinners. And with seamers he was generally very safe and improved with time, as his keeping in 2014 showed in England, compared to 2011. You would hardly notice his keeping and usually that is a good thing.

 

[BoyBrumby]

A rather splendid tribute from Barney Ronay in today's Guardian.

Thought this passage sums up the man pretty darn perfectly:

When Sachin Tendulkar, his predecessor as lord of all things India, batted you felt the presence of this cold clear square of light, the platonic ideal of high-functioning orthodoxy. By contrast Dhoni has been entirely himself. My favourite Dhoni incarnation is the long-haired breakout star.

There was a wondrously brutal 148 against Pakistan in his first year with India, an innings that felt in itself like a rejection of what had gone before, a torching of the reedy-voiced handbook.

 

[h_hurricane]

I loved the below line from the article.

"Dhoni does not bend for the ball. The ball bends for Dhoni"

 

[ankitj]

I also realised Dhoni is the last cricketer of my age group. There will no longer be active cricketers who have grown up in the same environment as me, who didn't use internet in their teens, who remember life before economic Liberalization, who can recall watching Ramayana and Mahabharata on tv, who can recall Tendulkar's debut series etc.

 

[h_hurricane]

Count me too in that group. The games isn't the same is it, when you look around and see players much younger than you, try to be a fanboy of someone and then realize that feels awkward.

 

[vcs]

I'm of the same generation and feel nostalgic about the '90s but it doesn't stop me enjoying the next generations of players TBH. I also thought I'd struggle to feel invested in the sport after the Sachin-Dravid-Kumble era but cricket moves on.

 

[SillyCowCorner1]

There will be a few complacent folks waiting to get another Dhoni; the thing is there will never be another Dhoni.

These youngsters should make a name for themselves.

 

[ankitj]

I posted this on the other thread, thought it belongs here too. Some of the run outs affected by Dhoni seemed like he manufactured them. Very keen sense of timing.

 

[ankitj]

And this too.

 

[stephen]

Today is not the day to talk about his last 4 years or so, today is the day to talk about 2004 Dhoni , 2008 Dhoni or 2011 Dhoni , the one guy who as long as he was there, the match was not over, the one who was the favorite if a bowler needed to defend 20 in the last over against him, the lightning quick stumper, the one who re-ignited the craze for long hair in India (something I'll always count against him as I just couldn't get that look with my rubbish hairline) , the man who could hit the ball into the next country if he so wished, the guy who had the same face whether he lost or won, the man who you knew was born a leader and looked the part.

Thank you MS, for your career and that 2011 Six.

I'd like to point out that by far his best series in Australia was right at the end of his career. A golden moment in a lacklustre few years. Kind of like Ponting in India towards the end of his test career.

Since I haven't posted otherwise in this thread I'd like to say that very few players have had the impact on the format that Dhoni has had. Behind Tendulkar he's easily the best ODI cricketer India has ever had. Well at least until Kohli came along anyway.