MS Dhoni retires from international cricket: Captain Cool's most significant records

Indian cricket is left with a massive void to fill as MS Dhoni announced his retirement from one-day and T20 internationals, 6 years after bidding adieu to Test cricket.

The inevitable has happened with Dhoni ending his illustrious India career more than a year after he last played for India in the 2019 World Cup semi-finals.

Dhoni’s form with the bat had dipped off late as his match-winning abilities diminished with time.

MS Dhoni finishing a match on his own was a frequent occurrence during his hey-days but his magic touch vanished as he hit the wrong side of 30s.

But more than his batting, it is his cricketing acumen which the Indian team will miss the most.

Dhoni wasn’t a gifted cricketer by any means but he worked hard at his game to establish himself as a legend in the limited-overs formats.

Not only was Dhoni destructive with the bat, but was also one of the best wicketkeepers the sport has ever seen.

Dhoni was street-smart with behind the stumps which helped him accumulate a record number of dismissals and it was his cricketing brain along with the experience which saw him rack up international and IPL trophies at will.

The tactical changes and strategies made Dhoni one of the most successful captains of all time as well. Captain Cool’s most popular decision remains handing over the ball to Joginder Sharma in the final over of the World T20 final against Pakistan in 2007 which actually worked as India became the first T20 world champions.

It would now be an understatement to say that his shoes will be hard to fill as Dhoni bids adieu to cricket.

But rather than sulking on Dhoni’s retirement, we should celebrate his glorious career as captain, batsman, wicketkeeper and most importantly, as a great servant of Indian cricket.

Dhoni, who made his debut in 2004, leaves behind a legacy which will be hard to match for Virat Kohli and other captains who succeed him for generations to come.

Along with that, the 37-year-old also leaves behind a plethora of records that he broke and set during his illustrious 14-year career.

MOST SIGNIFICANT RECORDS IN DHONI’S CAREER

· Perhaps the most significant record in Dhoni’s career would be that of being the only captain in the world to win all three ICC Trophies 2007 World T20, 2011 ICC World Cup and 2013 Champions Trophy.

· Another record he would be most proud of as captain would be India attaining the world No. 1 ranking in Test cricket for the first time in 2009.

· As captain, Dhoni also holds the record for longest unbeaten run in Tests from his debut with 11 (8 wins and 3 draws)

· The wicket-keeper batsman bows out with 10046 runs from 321 ODIs and 1487 runs from 93 T20Is.

· Dhoni is the first Indian wicket-keeper to amass more than 4000 Test runs. He made 4876 runs in 90 Tests with 6 hundreds and 33 fifties at an average of over 38.

· Dhoni eclipsed Sourav Ganguly’s record of most Test wins as captain with 27 to become India’s most successful captain in the format.

· Dhoni’s 148 off 123 balls against Pakistan in only his fifth ODI in Faisalabad in 2004 remains the fastest century scored by an Indian wicket-keeper, and fourth overall.

· With 788 dismissals in Test cricket, Dhoni is third on the all-time list behind Mark Boucher (998) and Adam Gilchrist (905). But he is head-and-shoulders above of the rest with the most stumpings in international cricket with 178.

· In ODIs, he was the fourth-most successful keeper with 407 dismissals but again leads the stumpings list with 107. He is widely regarded as the fastest stumper among wicketkeepers which is why he heads the lists in all three formats.

· In T20 internationals, Dhoni leads with 87 dismissals with once again the most stumpings at 33.

· The one-day format was where Dhoni established himself as one of the greatest captains with 110 wins in 199 matches, the second most behind Australia’s Ricky Ponting (165 wins in 230 matches). Overall, Dhoni is the third-most experienced captain behind Ponting and New Zealand’s Stephen Fleming (218 matches).

· The 183 not out that Dhoni smashed against Sri Lanka in 2005 is still the highest individual score by a wicket-keeper in ODI cricket.

· MS Dhoni was revered as a hard-hitting cricketer with the ability to clear the ropes at will which is why he is fourth on the list of batsmen with the most sixes in ODIs at 217. No other Indian has cleared the ropes as many times as he did in the format. Overall, Dhoni has hit the most international sixes as captain (204).

· On July 14 this year, Dhoni became the fourth Indian after Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly and Rahul Dravid to score 10,000 ODI runs during the 2nd ODI against England at Lord's. Dhoni became only the 12th player in ODI history to reach the 10000-run club. He is the fourth quickest to the landmark in terms of innings - after Tendulkar, Ganguly, Ponting (266) and Kallis (272). But not many know that he is the only player in the list to enter the exclusive club with a career average of over 50.

· Dhoni also holds the record most number of not outs in ODI cricket with 120 which explains his outstanding average of 51.25. This is also why Dhoni was regarded as the best finisher of all time in the format for the better part of his career.