A journey of 299 ODIs- MS Dhoni set to play the landmark ODI

Arguably the finest men with the glove work and one of the most impressive skipper of all time, MS Dhoni is all set to enter the royal 300 ODI club as he plays the 4th match of the ongoing ODI series with the sea neighbours-Sri Lanka. Dhoni, who graced the blue jersey in his 299 appearances so far, has set a plethora of records on his name. More than 9500 runs at an average above 51 (9608 at 51.94) regard his stature of one of the best wicket keeper batsman of all time. The journey of MS Dhoni from a ticket collector to the most successful Indian skipper can be portrayed by the images below.

1. A golden duck on debut

One of the most unfortunate events in a player’s career- a golden duck on debut. MS Dhoni tasted the same against Bangladesh. But what followed over the years, was a career sparkled with records on his name.

2. A blistering knock of 183* vs Sri Lanka

India’s response to Sri Lanka’s 298 was all about Dhoni’s sensational 183 off 145 deliveries, an innings that set standards of India’s then rising star. The cricket world saw an innings flourished with 15 fours and 10 sixes, the then joint second highest individual score by an Indian in ODIs.

3. Duties of the skipper

After India’s early exit from the 2007 World Cup. Rahul Dravid resigned from the post of a skipper, which was then handled by MS Dhoni. The skipper brought early glory to his name as he won the 2007 T20 world cup, which was then followed by Championship in the 2011 ODI World Cup and the 2013 Champions Trophy.

4. The Iconic World Cup winning six.

The enormity of the world cup winning innings (91 off 79) of the 2011 World cup cannot be penned down. Out of the hundreds of sixes in Indian History, MS Dhoni’s 2011 winning strike will go down as the historical six. As Suni Gavaskar quotes,”When I die, the last thing I want to see is the six that Dhoni hit in the 2011 world cup final”?

5. The complete cabinet.

MS Dhoni remains the only skipper in the history of cricket to have won The ICC T20 World Cup(2007),the ICC Test mace(2009),The ICC ODI World Cup(2011) and ICC Champions Trophy(2013).

6. The best behind the wickets- flashing stumpings

If something is faster than light, it is probably the speed of MS Dhoni’s effective stumpings. With 99 stumpings so far, Dhoni equals Kumar Sangakkara in the tally of ODI stumpings, the joint highest.

7. Abdication from the post of the captain

To everyone’s surprise, MS Dhoni stepped down as the skipper of the Indian team in January 2017, thereby handling the powers to the young Virat Kohli. Dhoni’s decision not only left the fans shocked, but also questioned his future .