On April 5th 2005, at Vishakhapatnam, a young lad with long hair from Jharkhand, a state which has almost no cricketing history announced himself in the international scene. From then on Dhoni's career took off. Just 2 years after that knock MS Dhoni captained India to a T20 World Cup Triumph in South Africa. Dhoni's rise in cricket has been quite dramatic. It has just been around 5 years since Dhoni captained an Indian team. In this span he has ticked almost all the boxes - won the T20 World Cup- won the 50 over World Cup - lead his side to world no. 1 in Test Cricket - became the first Indian captain not to loose a test series in South Africa- Has never lost a home test series - Has won a couple of IPL silverware - Has won a Champions league silverware - Has been a part of the ICC ODI team 6 times (4 times a captain) - Has been a part of the ICC Test team twice (on both occasions as a captain) - Has won the ODI player of the year twice.
These are great achievements for any player. But when you take into consideration that it has not even been 7 years since MS Dhoni has made is Test debut, these achievements become simply astonishing. Put his wicket-keeping also into perspective and then those achievements look quite mind boggling. Anyone who has played the game or even seen it enough would know that wicket-keeping is one of the most tiring jobs in cricket. To captain side while keeping for the length of the time he has done and with the success which he has is quite remarkable. And he does it without a break - he does wicket keeping even for his franchise team, CSK. Which means that throughout the year, he plays all the three formats as a wicket-keeper batsman who captains his side (whether it is India or CSK). This is quite incredible. A great virtue of MS which goes unnoticed so many times is his extraordinary fitness. Playing almost 8 years of international cricket (5 of them as a captain), he has not once faced any fitness issues. On the contrary he has remained arguably the fastest runner between the wickets in the country (if not in the world).
One criticism that Dhoni has always faced is his batting in overseas conditions. People have often rightly pointed out that he is not quite the batsman he is at home when he plays overseas. Although that statement is perfectly true, I have not seen any wicket-keeper batsman who has batted with the same success he does at home in the overseas conditions.
* By away I mean (Australia, Englans, SA and NZ)
** By away I mean (the sub-continent and England)
*** By away I mean (the sub-continent and Australia)
Only one wicket-keeper batsman stands out as absolutely outstanding in both alien and home conditions. He is Zimbabwe's Andy Flower. Barring Flower it is clear that the batting averages of other wicket-keepers do dip considerably when they play in alien conditions. Dhoni's batting average is quite respectable in front the legends of wicket-keeping of the past decade or a decade and a half. It is also important to make note that none of these keepers led their side for the period of time Dhoni has.
So, has MS Dhoni made a place for himself in the annuls of cricketing history? I would say 'YES'. Dhoni is easily one the greatest ODI wicket-keeper batsman the game as ever seen, along side Adam Gilchrist. Dhoni as a batsman is more versatile, he can be the accumulator as well the demolish-er. In test cricket he is definitely one of the greatest India has ever seen. In the world stage, when people talk about the really good wicket-keepers who have played MS's name should definitely pop up.
As a captain in Test Cricket, many times he might have erred with his field placements. He has been criticized for going into the defensive a bit too early. But on the positive side, MS never gives you the impression that he runs out of ideas. He maintains that same calm yogic demeanor irrespective of the match situation. He never lets his shoulders drop and even in the most difficult of circumstances, his body language makes you believe that there is another trick up his sleeve - a very important trait for a captain. Even if Dhoni is clueless about what has to be done, he never lets anyone know what he feels.
Dhoni is just 31. I believe he has quite a bit of cricket left in him. I am pretty certain when his career finishes MS would be a much better Test batsman. With the amount of work load Dhoni carries, he stretching beyond the 2015 WC looks difficult. But when goes, he would one the greatest ODI cricketers of all time and a very fine test cricketer.
These are great achievements for any player. But when you take into consideration that it has not even been 7 years since MS Dhoni has made is Test debut, these achievements become simply astonishing. Put his wicket-keeping also into perspective and then those achievements look quite mind boggling. Anyone who has played the game or even seen it enough would know that wicket-keeping is one of the most tiring jobs in cricket. To captain side while keeping for the length of the time he has done and with the success which he has is quite remarkable. And he does it without a break - he does wicket keeping even for his franchise team, CSK. Which means that throughout the year, he plays all the three formats as a wicket-keeper batsman who captains his side (whether it is India or CSK). This is quite incredible. A great virtue of MS which goes unnoticed so many times is his extraordinary fitness. Playing almost 8 years of international cricket (5 of them as a captain), he has not once faced any fitness issues. On the contrary he has remained arguably the fastest runner between the wickets in the country (if not in the world).
One criticism that Dhoni has always faced is his batting in overseas conditions. People have often rightly pointed out that he is not quite the batsman he is at home when he plays overseas. Although that statement is perfectly true, I have not seen any wicket-keeper batsman who has batted with the same success he does at home in the overseas conditions.
| Wicket-Kepeer | Batting average at Home | Batting average overseas |
| MS Dhoni | 45.42 | 31.72 * |
| Adam Gilchrist | 47.42 | 38.72 ** |
| Mark Boucher | 30.30 | 28.54 ** |
| Alec Stewart | 39.30 | 28.45 *** |
| Matt Prior | 42.61 | 39.54 *** |
* By away I mean (Australia, Englans, SA and NZ)
** By away I mean (the sub-continent and England)
*** By away I mean (the sub-continent and Australia)
Only one wicket-keeper batsman stands out as absolutely outstanding in both alien and home conditions. He is Zimbabwe's Andy Flower. Barring Flower it is clear that the batting averages of other wicket-keepers do dip considerably when they play in alien conditions. Dhoni's batting average is quite respectable in front the legends of wicket-keeping of the past decade or a decade and a half. It is also important to make note that none of these keepers led their side for the period of time Dhoni has.
So, has MS Dhoni made a place for himself in the annuls of cricketing history? I would say 'YES'. Dhoni is easily one the greatest ODI wicket-keeper batsman the game as ever seen, along side Adam Gilchrist. Dhoni as a batsman is more versatile, he can be the accumulator as well the demolish-er. In test cricket he is definitely one of the greatest India has ever seen. In the world stage, when people talk about the really good wicket-keepers who have played MS's name should definitely pop up.
As a captain in Test Cricket, many times he might have erred with his field placements. He has been criticized for going into the defensive a bit too early. But on the positive side, MS never gives you the impression that he runs out of ideas. He maintains that same calm yogic demeanor irrespective of the match situation. He never lets his shoulders drop and even in the most difficult of circumstances, his body language makes you believe that there is another trick up his sleeve - a very important trait for a captain. Even if Dhoni is clueless about what has to be done, he never lets anyone know what he feels.
Dhoni is just 31. I believe he has quite a bit of cricket left in him. I am pretty certain when his career finishes MS would be a much better Test batsman. With the amount of work load Dhoni carries, he stretching beyond the 2015 WC looks difficult. But when goes, he would one the greatest ODI cricketers of all time and a very fine test cricketer.
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