CAPTAIN COOL- MSD

"Dhoni finishes off in style, India lifts the world cup after 28 years" - every Indian cricket fan must have watched this match !! Due to the heroics of Gambhir and Dhoni, we were able to clinch the World Cup in 2011.

pic credit: exchange4media

Now, we are here to talk about the one and only 'CAPTAIN COOL' Mahendra Singh Dhoni.

Let's get into his 16 years of the cricketing journey!

YEAR-2004

He made his debut in international cricket on the 23rd December in 2004 against Bangladesh in the One Day International. He was out for a duck in his first-ever international match( and now he is the only captain in the game's history to have won all the three ICC trophies). And from there onwards, he never looked back !! He is that great.

YEAR-2005

He made his debut in test cricket on the 2nd December in the year 2005 against Sri Lanka.

He scored 30 runs,, and later on, that game was marred.

YEAR-2006 

He made his debut in T20 cricket on the 1st December in the year 2006 against South Africa. He was out for a duck after playing two deliveries, but who would know a great leader and player was in progress who would take Indian cricket to the next level.

YEAR-2007

In 2007, under Dravid's leadership, India was knocked out of the 50-over World Cup in the group stages, and the side was subjected to severe criticism. In the same year, Dhoni was named as skipper for the T20 World Cup, and in that year, only India became the champion of the first-ever T20 World Cup after defeating Pakistan in the final. He also won the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna award this year.

YEAR-2008

In 2008, he received the ICC ODI PLAYER OF THE YEAR award and was a member of ICC WORLD ODI XI. He was named as the captain of the Test team that year. This year was the beginning of the Indian Premier League, and Dhoni was selected as the first captain of Chennai Super Kings.

YEAR-2009

In 2009, under his captaincy, India topped the Test cricket rankings for the first time. He won many awards, including Padma Shri, ICC ODI PLAYER OF THE YEAR award, and a member of ICC WORLD ODI XI (as captain) and ICC WORLD TEST XI.

YEAR-2010

In 2010, under his captaincy, CSK lifted their first title of IPL and India lifted the Asia Cup after 15 years. He was in the ICC WORLD ODI XI and the ICC WORLD TEST XI. In that year, only CSK was also the winner of CLT20.

YEAR-2011

In 2011, under his captaincy, India lifted the WORLD CUP after 28 years after beating Sri Lanka in the final match in which Dhoni scored an unbeaten 91, which paved the way for an Indian victory. He was awarded Castrol Indian Cricketer of the Year. He was also a member of ICC WORLD ODI XI(as captain). And in that year, only CSK lifted their 2nd IPL title consecutively.

YEAR-2012

In 2012, he was a member of ICC WORLD ODI XI(as captain). Dhoni's 113 against Pakistan in Chennai in 2012 is the highest by a captain batting at number 7.

YEAR-2013

In 2013, he was the skipper of the Indian side, which went on to win their 2nd ICC Champions Trophy in England and Wales after 11 years. In that year, Dhoni became the first captain ever to have won all the three ICC Championship cups. He was a member of ICC WORLD ODI XI(as captain).

YEAR-2014

In 2014, he was a member of ICC WORLD ODI XI(as captain) for the 8th time and 7th time consecutively and five times as captain. He took retirement from the test cricket on 30th December and played his last match against Australia on 26th December. The following Indian captain was Virat Kohli. 

Year-2015

In 2015, unfortunately, the Indian Cricket Team failed to qualify for the finals of the ICC WORLD CUP and was knocked out in the semi-final against Australia. From 2015 the Dhoni era was coming to an end. It was a rough time for all his fans.

YEAR-2016

In 2016, under his captaincy, India won the Asia Cup T20I beating Bangladesh in the final match.

YEAR-2017 

In 2017, Dhoni stepped down as captain in January, and Virat Kohli was the next captain in all three formats. That year was the end of the 'Dhoni the captain' era.

YEAR-2018

In 2018, Dhoni was back in CSK colours and made a massive impact by winning the tournament for the 3rd time in total, levelling the number of titles won by Mumbai Indians. He was awarded the Padma Bhushan award in the year 2018.

YEAR-2019

In 2019, this wasn't pleasant for fans as MSD was seen for the last time in the international format as he played his final ODI match on 9th July against New Zealand in the Semi-final of ICC WORLD CUP. And he played his last T20I on 27th February against Australia.

YEAR-2020

In 2020, the whole world was under crisis, and they were no cricket for the fans. And amidst all these things, MSD took retirement from international cricket on 15th August ( India's 74th Independence Day). He was awarded the ICC SPIRIT OF THE CRICKET AWARD OF THE DECADE, and he was the member of ICC MEN'S ODI TEAM OF THE DECADE( as captain and wicket-keeper) and ICC MEN'S T20I TEAM OF THE DECADE( as captain and wicket-keeper).

Let us have a look at his stats:

Format	M	Inn	NO	Runs	HS	Avg	BF	SR	100s	50s	4s	6s
Test 2005–14	90	144	16	4876	224	38.1	8249	59.1	6	33	544	78
ODI 2004–19	350	297	84	10773	183*	50.6	12303	87.6	10	73	826	229
T20I 2006–19	98	85	42	1617	56	37.6	1282	126.1	0	2	116	52
IPL 2008–	211	186	70	4669	84*	40.2	3417	136.6	0	23	317	217

Stats Credit: Google

So, this was the 16 years of the cricketing era that every Indian cricket fan would have enjoyed !!!

Do give your opinions !!

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