MS Dhoni steps down as ODI and T20I captain of the Indian Cricket Team

[street cricketer]

[MENTION=139664]street cricketer[/MENTION] statistically he is not a patch on ricky ponting.i have never seen people praising ponting for his captaincy as he won 2 back to back world cups and champion trophies.

So Ponting didn't have an exceptional team eh?

 

[Drreddymd]

Yes dhoni is the best hack the world has ever produced.he is greater than even don bradman,king viv,srt,abd in his hackish play

 

[Drreddymd]

[MENTION=139664]street cricketer[/MENTION] thats what i am saying he won because of exceptional team and not by his captaincy.here his fans are telling that indian team won only because of his mythical captaincy which is not the cade

 

[Drreddymd]

[MENTION=139664]street cricketer[/MENTION] i mean ponting won because of the team and not because of his captaincy.its the same with indian team

 

[jusarrived]

Yes dhoni is the best hack the world has ever produced.he is greater than even don bradman,king viv,srt,abd in his hackish play

Dosent matter if hes a hack , as long as he wins matches for the team . SRT is a great , but I wudnt pick him ahead of MSD , Virat or even Yuvi if I want my team to win . you dont have to insult other players to big him up . you believe he was the best , so be it . why the hate ?

 

[street cricketer]

[MENTION=139664]street cricketer[/MENTION] i mean ponting won because of the team and not because of his captaincy.its the same with indian team

So you mean to say the role of a captain is redundant in ODI cricket?

 

[jusarrived]

So you mean to say the role of a captain is redundant in ODI cricket?

Hes doing his google search . will come up with some random name name now . lol

 

[street cricketer]

Hes doing his google search . will come up with some random name name now . lol

I'm beginning to doubt if reddy bhai is Gautam Gambhir in disguise.

 

[Drreddymd]

[MENTION=139664]street cricketer[/MENTION] u dont seem to get my point.i am just refuting the idea that india won only because of his captaincy and i am not saying captaincy has no role .i am not sure of the role his captaincy played in indian wins.according to me its the team that won and his captaincy is a minor point

 

[Drreddymd]

[MENTION=139664]street cricketer[/MENTION] u remember that without gautam gambhir there would be no dhoni the mythical captain

 

[R0H1T]

He performed for you guys in the biggest ODI match India has played in the last 30 years. You guys will realize how brilliant ODI captain you had in coming years.

You're assuming no one would've step up if he hadn't scored in the final, lest you forgot that Yuvraj & Raina played brilliant hands in the much tougher chase against AUS in the QF.

Take the final's knock out of the frame, you have zero crucial knocks from him in all ICC tournaments & that is why a little bit of perspective is required to see through the nostalgia that many kids have of him, especially the ones from India. This is like the Bradman thread all over again, I'll definitely say that he was a good ODI captain (second best after Kapil IMO) but nowhere near the GOAT as some are suggesting.

You look at the resources he had at his disposal & he got the results with them, lesser resources in 2015 & he was found wanting against Aus. The likes of Clive Lloyd & Kapil Dev built the team from scratch, to a lesser extent Ponting too, he got all of this on a platter.

 

[RamLakhan]

He did finish games but a lot of that was on the back of Sehwag/SRT/Gambhir/Yuvraj/Kohli blasting the opposition away. Especially SRT & yuvraj, when you analyze their form in the 2006~11 time period.

He was a good ODI captain, not the the greatest ever, but below Kapil IMO & below avg captain in tests & T20.

So Gilchrist did all the blasting without the help of any player in his team is it? When a team is bundled out for 150+ run on a placid pitch (even in Finals, but of course with sheer-class bowling attack), any decent batsman can get motivated to blast and chase that meager total. And the other team in other finals got over-cautious (were decent until then) on the big day, bowled no-balls after no-balls, wide after wide, without any intent of attacking and picking wickets, they were pleading the Australian openers to score 300+

Put Gilchrist on that tough day on a tougher pitch, tougher condition (flood lights) against determined Srilankan attack. Even though he is an opener, I am sure he wouldn't have scored as much as Gambhir! (forget doing the finishing act). Dhoni was definitely capable like Gilchrist (to bat at No.3, score freely and achieve almost like Sehwag or at least like Jayasuriya up to some time!) But he harnessed that intent for team's interest and transformed into a totally different player.

 

[R0H1T]

So Gilchrist did all the blasting without the help of any player in his team is it? When a team is bundled out for 150+ run on a placid pitch (even in Finals, but of course with sheer-class bowling attack), any decent batsman can get motivated to blast and chase that meager total. And the other team in other finals got over-cautious (were decent until then) on the big day, bowled no-balls after no-balls, wide after wide, without any intent of attacking and picking wickets, they were pleading the Australian openers to score 300+

Put Gilchrist on that tough day on a tougher pitch, tougher condition (flood lights) against determined Srilankan attack. Even though he is an opener, I am sure he wouldn't have scored as much as Gambhir! (forget doing the finishing act). Dhoni was definitely capable like Gilchrist (to bat at No.3, score freely and achieve almost like Sehwag or at least like Jayasuriya up to some time!) But he harnessed that intent for team's interest and transformed into a totally different player.

Not against the moving ball, not on pitches like the WACA of even the noughties & certainly not against Lee, Mcgrath, Tait, Johnson et al at their best. Check his record against SA/Aus outside of Asia & you'll know what I'm talking about.

As for the rest, I have no idea what you're talking about?

 

[RamLakhan]

[MENTION=139664]street cricketer[/MENTION] u remember that without gautam gambhir there would be no dhoni the mythical captain

Cricket is a team sport! Dhoni cannot do everything (opening the batting, bowling, fielding in the deep, etc). But he did the toughest job on the given day (carry the team to the finishing line!) and you are unhappy about that! (I am sure you were the kind of first men to get furious at the middle order & lower order who gave up after Sachin got out at crucial time in numerous chases and nobody finished! You also accused/blamed Sachin himself for not finishing it up! Now that somebody did the tough job, you are not happy, jealous at him????!!!!???? Actually Gambhir should be thankful to Dhoni for finishing it up, otherwise he wouldn't be considered as 10% batsman as Sachin and his innings would have got totally forgotten! His innings is getting highlighted because of Dhoni!)

 

[Drreddymd]

@justarrived in what universe is dhoni the first name in our team.looking at his horrible performances in icc tournaments he should be last player in the team.u r the one bigging him up by saying he is the best and dissing srt

 

[RamLakhan]

Not against the moving ball, not on pitches like the WACA of even the noughties & certainly not against Lee, Mcgrath, Tait, Johnson et al at their best. Check his record against SA/Aus outside of Asia & you'll know what I'm talking about.

As for the rest, I have no idea what you're talking about?

I was telling the stories of two world cup finals (one-sided affairs! Total team to team domination! There was no pressure on any individual player! So talking about a single player's achievement in those matches is irrelevant!)

And conditions? I am sure Gilchrist wouldn't have played those magical innings if those finals were played in Srilanka or India!

 

[R0H1T]

Just a follow up, Gilchrist usually set the tone for Aus & his 2007 innings was among the top 5 in the finals. His demolition of Zaheer in the 2003 WC final's first over was what set Ponting, & Martyn, up for their Blitzkrieg at the end. Put Dhoni in their, even at 3, & he'd be scratchy whilst running down the wicket trying just to get bat on ball.

 

[Drreddymd]

[MENTION=78894]RamLakhan[/MENTION] it is the opposite. its because of gambhir dhoni is what he is today and gambhir is in now way should be thankful to him because he did zilch in the 2007 final and in 2011 there are still yuvi and raina waiting to finish the game.

 

[R0H1T]

I was telling the stories of two world cup finals (one-sided affairs! Total team to team domination! There was no pressure on any individual player! So talking about a single player's achievement in those matches is irrelevant!)

And conditions? I am sure Gilchrist wouldn't have played those magical innings if those finals were played in Srilanka or India!

Which two finals are you talking about? 2003 & 2007 I've mentioned in my reply. As for comparing 2007 & 2011, the knock against peak Murali & Malinga plus Vaasdew was exceptional. It was at least twice as good as the next best innings that day, you can't say the same about Dhoni's innings against a lesser attack under the floodlights, that too at home, with the opposition bowlers having to contend with heavy dew in the outfield.

I'd back Gilchrist to do something similar in India & SL, having watched him (live) for pretty much all of his career I can say without doubt that he was a big match player & along with Ponting & Mcgrath, Aus best player in the three WC of 99, 03 & 2007.

 

[Drreddymd]

[MENTION=78894]RamLakhan[/MENTION] Even if we accept his good performance in 2011 final what has dhoni done to finish the matches as you say in the remaining matches of so many icc tournaments? So he carried the team over the line with his mythical captaincy in other matches right?

 

[Drreddymd]

[MENTION=78894]RamLakhan[/MENTION] if he is so good a captain as u make of him why didnt he helped his team cross the line in 2014 t 20 final and recent t 20 semifinal? it falls flat on ur face the reason u gave for indian wins right ?

 

[Drreddymd]

[MENTION=78894]RamLakhan[/MENTION] so according to u if the team wins dhoni helped team cross over the line but if team loses poor dhoni is not a fault and it is the players fault right?

 

[RamLakhan]

[MENTION=78894]RamLakhan[/MENTION] so according to u if the team wins dhoni helped team cross over the line but if team loses poor dhoni is not a fault and it is the players fault right?

If team loses its team's fault! If it wins its team effort! No question about that!

But if some player stands out on the day, he will be applauded and if some player chokes/loses it completely on his own (Like Yuvaraj in T20 finals), then such players will be highlighted. I don't think Dhoni lost any game on his own from a winning position to be accused! (But he did the opposite for sure!)

 

[Drreddymd]

[MENTION=78894]RamLakhan[/MENTION] i can give nearly dozen examples when dhoni failed to finish a winnable match.do u want me to list them again so many posted in the other article ? When has dhoni won an unwinnable match in icc tournaments ?

 

[street cricketer]

[MENTION=139664]street cricketer[/MENTION] u dont seem to get my point.i am just refuting the idea that india won only because of his captaincy and i am not saying captaincy has no role .i am not sure of the role his captaincy played in indian wins.according to me its the team that won and his captaincy is a minor point

You could say that if he won just one trophy and you can brand it as a fluke.

But the guy won every single trophy in cricket.

WT20 2007
WC 2011
Champions trophy 2013

I'm not even including the multiple IPLs and the Champions league he won.

Mind you, all these were done with quite different teams. And he didn't have McGrath, Brett Lee, Wasim Akram, Joel Garner, Andy Roberts et al at his disposal. Had some of the greatest trundling legends to have played the game.

Look, I don't rate his test captaincy. But test captaincy is different from LOI captaincy. Test format hasn't changed much over the years and test captaincy is all about doing the basics and fundamentals and not trying funky things. People are getting on the hype train on Kohli's successes but I tell you, the guy is an equally defensive captain as far as game tactics are concerned. But the difference is that he trusts in pacers much more than Dhoni and isn't afraid of trying brave line ups to force a result unlike Dhoni who always went with 7 batsmen and 4 bowlers. Another key difference is that he leads from the front, a bit like Imran was, and that makes up for any tactical deficiencies he may have.

But LOI captaincy is a different kettle of fish. The shorter format has undergone much more evolution than test format and so what was considered standard captaincy in 1980 may not be good enough in 1990, and so on. A past test captain from 70s and 80s will still make a good test captain now as long he's strong in the fundamentals of the game. It's not the same case in LOIs. You need to be proactive, think on your feet, be street smart and not be afraid of taking funky decisions. LOIs test your tactical skills much more than test format. And Dhoni is among the best tactically I've seen in the LOI format. He sees the game like a chess match and it's why he has captained to the victories with different teams in different conditions (2007 in South Africa, 2011 in India, 2013 in England). Look, you might not rate him as a player. And I agree that his final knock has been overrated a bit and he's quite poor otherwise in world tournaments. But it's pretty daft to say that he has won all these trophies through mere fluke.

 

[Drreddymd]

[MENTION=78894]RamLakhan[/MENTION] what i said above is true.its yuvraj fault only that we lost the final but not the captain who picked him in the final while yuvraj is struggling all along the tournament and even sending yuvraj and himself ahead of raina? This is classical brinkmanship at work by blaming others for losses and taking entire credit for the wins right?u r again making blanket statements like dhoni won losable matches .please mention them for us to see ?

 

[Drreddymd]

[MENTION=139664]street cricketer[/MENTION] so what u say is that he is responsible for the wins and it has nothing to do with the team right ? Then what about the loses ?how is he responsible for the wins? By his own performances or the team performances? I see nothing but zilch apart from one fluke innings in his performances.so according to u he magically turned a team of no hopers into world beaters by his captaincy right ?

 

[Drreddymd]

[MENTION=139664]street cricketer[/MENTION] i am not convinced at all that a player who is a passenger in the team is responsible for team wins .u r selling the team short

 

[Drreddymd]

[MENTION=139664]street cricketer[/MENTION] i am not saying that he won by fluke but i am saying that the team won with their performances with his captaincy contributing a minor part.how can u attribute batsman performance to his captaincy ? Any established bowler will know what fields he wants.ok i accept that he can influence by bowling changes and field placings but inorder to win by bowling the batsmen has to score runs first which the batsmen most of the times did.by saying he won 3 icc cups u r throwing batsmen,bowlers under the bus and highlighting his captaincy only

 

[R0H1T]

If team loses its team's fault! If it wins its team effort! No question about that!

But if some player stands out on the day, he will be applauded and if some player chokes/loses it completely on his own (Like Yuvaraj in T20 finals), then such players will be highlighted. I don't think Dhoni lost any game on his own from a winning position to be accused! (But he did the opposite for sure!)

Either you haven't seen too many games where he's lost us the match, figures I guess, or you're being facetious when you say that.

This is the game where we lost because of his batting ~ http://www.espncricinfo.com/wt202009/engine/match/356006.html

This because of his captaincy ~ http://www.espncricinfo.com/wt202009/engine/match/356010.html

I can find others as well but then you'll go on another tangent. Yuvraj has won us more games in ICC tournaments than Dhoni ever could, you bringing his 2014 final's performance just reeks desperation, what did Dhoni do after he came on to bat? He didn't score a single boundary for ~2 overs when he was at the crease, what about his insipid batting in the SF vs the WI last year when he scored just one boundary in 9 balls?

As for bilateral or multilateral tournaments, there are just too many instances to count where he's lost us (virtually) won games!

 

[JaDed]

We know how many trophies we won under Ganguly,Dravid,Sachin and we know how many we won under Dhoni,lets see how many we win without Dhoni to get a clear picture.

The SAnjay Manjrekar logic of "Ganguly is the best Indian captain and Dhoni is the captain of the best Indian team" are BS imo and i think we will have a clear idea next year.

 

[JaDed]

Either you haven't seen too many games where he's lost us the match, figures I guess, or you're being facetious when you say that.

This is the game where we lost because of his batting ~ http://www.espncricinfo.com/wt202009/engine/match/356006.html

This because of his captaincy ~ http://www.espncricinfo.com/wt202009/engine/match/356010.html

I can find others as well but then you'll go on another tangent. Yuvraj has won us more games in ICC tournaments than Dhoni ever could, you bringing his 2014 final's performance just reeks desperation, what did Dhoni do after he came on to bat? He didn't score a single boundary for ~2 overs when he was at the crease, what about his insipid batting in the SF vs the WI last year when he scored just one boundary in 9 balls?

As for bilateral or multilateral tournaments, there are just too many instances to count where he's lost us (virtually) won games!

Yuvraj has himself said Dhoni is the best captain he has played in,Yuvi was good for a long time but why did he perform well in major ICC tournament under Dhoni only?

Kohli has said that Dhoni promoted him to 1 down,and we all know how that worked out,Ganguly couldn't handle Zaheer as we all saw in the 2003 WC final,Dhoni let Zaheer express himself in ODIs.
Similarly with Irfan,RP Singh.

 

[Drreddymd]

[MENTION=137142]JaDed[/MENTION] so a non performing passenger is the reason for other players brilliant performance right ? So what about his own performance? Just because dhoni is the captain we have won tournaments according to u ? Then why we lost 2014 t 20 finals,2015 sf and this years t 20? What happened to his mythical captaincy in them?

 

[JaDed]

[MENTION=137142]JaDed[/MENTION] so a non performing passenger is the reason for other players brilliant performance right ? So what about his own performance? Just because dhoni is the captain we have won tournaments according to u ? Then why we lost 2014 t 20 finals,2015 sf and this years t 20? What happened to his mythical captaincy in them?

Who would had replaced Dhoni as a wicketkeeping batsman?So not sure how the passenger argument holds good in LOI cricket.

Also almost in most ICC tournaments we have been competitive offlate and hasn't been the see-saw we have experienced in previous decades that's the difference,last T20 finals,this time semis.

He wasn't that good anymore but that doesn't mean he wasn't good at all.

 

[Drreddymd]

[MENTION=137142]JaDed[/MENTION] india has won world cup,benson and hedges mini world cup 1985,champions trophy 2002 before dhoni was even a player.please dont post ******* about indian team as u seem to make that it has magically started performing under his captaincy

 

[Drreddymd]

[MENTION=137142]JaDed[/MENTION] i am speaking about his icc performances only for which he is famous for .

 

[R0H1T]

Yuvraj has himself said Dhoni is the best captain he has played in,Yuvi was good for a long time but why did he perform well in major ICC tournament under Dhoni only?

Kohli has said that Dhoni promoted him to 1 down,and we all know how that worked out,Ganguly couldn't handle Zaheer as we all saw in the 2003 WC final,Dhoni let Zaheer express himself in ODIs.
Similarly with Irfan,RP Singh.

Was it just after the WC/WT20 win or anytime recently? Secondly Ganguly captained Yuvraj for ~4 years & that too when he started his career, needless to say after gaining experience Yuvraj's output increased tremendously & not just because of some magic potion that Dhoni had.


It didn't work all that well initially, besides he came 2 down after Gambhir. His elevation to 3 was after Gambhir's form went into a terminal decline, Raina was still going strong at this time.

You're telling me Ganguly couldn't handle a ~2.5yrs old rookie well enough in the finals & Dhoni did better with a ~11yrs experienced campaigner, shocking isn't it? Ganguly did make a mistake by not selecting to bat first in the 2003 final, him giving Zaheer the first over probably was a bigger mistake but what happened in that over itself is solely on Zaheer. He couldn't handle the pressure & wilted badly under it. Though it has to be said that the 2003 Aussie squad was the best ODI outfit ever, according to me & many others, having won 21 ODI's on the trot & a streak that ended after they won the ODI series in the WI.

That is the most overused & worthless term in cricketing history, too cheesy for my liking & I won't bother with a riposte.

He basically destroyed his career singlehandedly, Irfan was the highest wicket taker in the CB series down under in 2008. Was similarly sensational in the 2012 triseries down under, you have to ask yourself why was he constantly ignored & replaced by trundlers in places like England & SA, when obviously he was good enough in Aus especially test matches?

The way Dhoni's handled pacemen, in ODI & tests, is a lesson in "what not to do to fast bowlers" & him blaming them for certain losses was just the last thing you'd expect from a captain!

 

[JaDed]

[MENTION=137142]JaDed[/MENTION] india has won world cup,benson and hedges mini world cup 1985,champions trophy 2002 before dhoni was even a player.please dont post ******* about indian team as u seem to make that it has magically started performing under his captaincy

Mate the only good LOI teams during those eras were Windies and Aus ,Pakistan was too wayward and once we effin lost to Miandad it was a massive downfall which didn't happen again.

If we were so good why the eff we lost easy tournaments in 87 and 96? In our home 87 and 96 shambolic to say the least.

82-85 was a very good time Kapil was a good captain Sunil was okish,in my other post I'm complaining Dhoni to Ganguly,Sachin,Dravid and even Azhar.

 

[JaDed]

So magic Irfan wasn't destroyed by Greg but by Dhoni? Mate Irfan had massive fitness issues and who captain Irfan in 2007 T20 and CB?

 

[Thivagar]

Dhoni had to be defensive with his field as his bowlers were very trash for a long time. Same reason why Mathews is defensive with his bowling but he takes it to another level. However it is pretty stupid to think India won the WC because of Dhoni. His captaincy is over hyped by Indian fans and commentators.

 

[Drreddymd]

[MENTION=137142]JaDed[/MENTION] we lost this years sf also in india right ?indian performances are not shambolic as u say.we reach sf in 1987;1996;final in 2003;final of champions trophy 2000;won champions trophy in 2002

 

[JaDed]

[MENTION=137142]JaDed[/MENTION] we lost this years sf also in india right ?indian performances are not shambolic as u say.we reach sf in 1987;1996;final in 2003;final of champions trophy 2000;won champions trophy in 2002

Dude during those years 87,96 foreign teams could hardly compete in Asia, 87 and 96 was supposed to be won by Pakistan or India,both bottled it up.

T20 pitches are flatter now easy to play ,wasn't the case during those years.

 

[King Kong]

If Dhoni was captain for England ODI series, I'd be very certain we will gonna lose it. Now I can safely say that we will win that series despite being a lesser team than England on the face of it with Kohli becoming MOS. That's how one should Even if we lose, he doesn't make petty excuses which were the norm under insipid Dhoni.

Dhoni lost many matches with his slow and selfish batting. It's unfair that Yuvi got targeted for just one poor match despite him performing most of the times in ICC tournaments and was the standout performer in the two world cups we won in which Dhoni did nothing apart from promoting himself up the order when we were on course winning it and stole all the limelight from Yuvi(who was the inform player and should have come ahead of Dhoni) and Gambhir, who was the one that setup the match along with Kohli after the two big guns got out.

[MENTION=137142]JaDed[/MENTION] DHONI'S CONTRIBUTION WAS NON-EXISTENT IN ALL THE ICC TOURNAMENTS WE WON. SO HE SHOULDN'T DESERVE ALL THE ACCOLADES AND CREDIT HE IS GETTING FOR THOSE WINS.

 

[JaDed]

AS i said in my other post I think we will all have an idea about good Kohli captains or whether it was Dhoni or not,if we compete well in ICC trophy this year(not winning just competing) one can say we are doing well without Dhoni's captaincy as well.

So lets just be patient.

 

[JaDed]

If Dhoni was captain for England ODI series, I'd be very certain we will gonna lose it. Now I can safely say that we will win that series despite being a lesser team than England on the face of it with Kohli becoming MOS. That's how one should Even if we lose, he doesn't make petty excuses which were the norm under insipid Dhoni.

Dhoni lost many matches with his slow and selfish batting. It's unfair that Yuvi got targeted for just one poor match despite him performing most of the times in ICC tournaments and was the standout performer in the two world cups we won in which Dhoni did nothing apart from promoting himself up the order when we were on course winning it and stole all the limelight from Yuvi(who was the inform player and should have come ahead of Dhoni) and Gambhir, who was the one that setup the match along with Kohli after the two big guns got out.

[MENTION=137142]JaDed[/MENTION] DHONI WAS NON-EXISTENT IN ALL THE ICC TOURNAMENTS WE WON. SO HE SHOULDN'T DESERVE ALL THE ACCOLADES AND CREDIT HE IS GETTING FOR THOSE WINS.

He is defn not getting any accolades for his "performance" just for his captaincy mate and also being the only decent LOI wicketkeeper bat we had/have.

It wasn't like explosive guys like Pant were developing before,Robin has been trash and Dinesh extremely inconsistent.

 

[Drreddymd]

[MENTION=137142]JaDed[/MENTION] then what so great about his captaincy if he cant win at home? U are conveniently not responding to his performance questions but questioning the performance of others and giving excuses for everything else.he is the last captain any fastbowler even in their wildest dreams want as their captain

 

[Drreddymd]

[MENTION=140475]King Kong[/MENTION] i am also telling the same thing but but india won only due to dhonis captaincy and he is the best odi player,first name in the team sheet if u want to win icc trophies according to his fans .but his performance paints a dismal picture so the narrative about dhonis captaincy is repeated ad nauseum inorder to hide his dismal performance

 

[Drreddymd]

I have never seen a supposedly all time great one day player whose icc tournament career is so dismal

 

[JaDed]

[MENTION=137142]JaDed[/MENTION] then what so great about his captaincy if he cant win at home? U are conveniently not responding to his performance questions but questioning the performance of others and giving excuses for everything else.he is the last captain any fastbowler even in their wildest dreams want as their captain

His performance hasn't been extraordinary but he wasn't taking anyone's place because in India he is still the best WK/Batsman.

His LOI captaining was still the best(Among Indian players),only offlate it has gone down,not like Gauti /Viru would had been better captains.

Also I haven't ever called him ATG batsman in LOI,but he is an ATG captain in LOI,there is a difference also he wasn't playing as a batsman "alone" in the team he was the WK/batsman there is a difference there.

 

[R0H1T]

So magic Irfan wasn't destroyed by Greg but by Dhoni? Mate Irfan had massive fitness issues and who captain Irfan in 2007 T20 and CB?

Just by Greg & not Dhoni, he didn't have a hand in relegating Irfan to obscurity? Irfan played the last two tests against Aus in 2007/08 tour, opened in them too, was our best bowler in those matches. Similarly in 2012 ODI series he was picked, why not tests then? Was Vinay Marshall better than him, what about the multiple tours of SA/Eng when he could've been picked for tests?

Why is that a big deal, you're telling me his captaincy (solely) won us those tourneys? What if Misbah didn't play that scoop, was Dhoni's magic responsible for that stroke? What about Sachin's 100 & 90+ in the two CB series finals, did he do something extraordinaire to make him play them innings?

Captaincy in ODI & T20 is highly overrated, the last 2015 WC & 2016 WT20 shows you that. How many games did Bailey captain when Aus won the 2015 WC, do you remember? What did Sammy do in the 2016 WT20?

A captain's true worth is shone is tests, you can see what Dhoni did there, to say that his captaincy won us the games that we did, is selling short the brilliant individuals (in form) he had in the team. I'm fairly certain that the 2003 WC Aus team would beat us in most places around the world, possibly even in India & that 2011 QF. Take Ponting out of that side & put Clarke in, don't think the result would've been much different & that's how good they were.

The team that Kapil lead & built for the 83 triumph is how a leader will be remembered, Dhoni lead brilliant individuals in great form. I can't bring myself to say anything over & above that.

 

[JaDed]

Just by Greg & not Dhoni, he didn't have a hand in relegating Irfan to obscurity? Irfan played the last two tests against Aus in 2007/08 tour, opened in them too, was our best bowler in those matches. Similarly in 2012 ODI series he was picked, why not tests then? Was Vinay Marshall better than him, what about the multiple tours of SA/Eng when he could've been picked for tests?

Why is that a big deal, you're telling me his captaincy (solely) won us those tourneys? What if Misbah didn't play that scoop, was Dhoni's magic responsible for that stroke? What about Sachin's 100 & 90+ in the two CB series finals, did he do something extraordinaire to make him play them innings?

Captaincy in ODI & T20 is highly overrated, the last 2015 WC & 2016 WT20 shows you that. How many games did Bailey captain when Aus won the 2015 WC, do you remember? What did Sammy do in the 2016 WT20?

A captain's true worth is shone is tests, you can see what Dhoni did there, to say that his captaincy won us the games that we did, is selling short the brilliant individuals (in form) he had in the team. I'm fairly certain that the 2003 WC Aus team would beat us in most places around the world, possibly even in India & that 2011 QF. Take Ponting out of that side & put Clarke in, don't think the result would've been much different & that's how good they were.

The team that Kapil lead & built for the 83 triumph is how a leader will be remembered, Dhoni lead brilliant individuals in great form. I can't bring myself to say anything over & above that.

Dhoni scored in CB series as well mate,Misbah playing that scoop is just "one" instance of the whole match ,but he captained the whole match.

1983 was great no doubt never have i brought the 1983-1985 ODI team into discussion they were right very good under Sunil in 1985 and Kapil in 1983.

The team in 90's and mid 2000's is what I'm talking about they were good in 2000-2007 but still we couldn't do well in major ICC trophies except for the Lankan ICC trophy.

Bailey captained what match in 2015 WC ,just one against a team that lost against Bangladesh cmon man are you saying he would had captained Aus to 2015 WC?

 

[R0H1T]

Dhoni scored in CB series as well mate,Misbah playing that scoop is just "one" instance of the whole match ,but he captained the whole match.

1983 was great no doubt never have i brought the 1983-1985 ODI team into discussion they were right very good under Sunil in 1985 and Kapil in 1983.

The team in 90's and mid 2000's is what I'm talking about they were good in 2000-2007 but still we couldn't do well in major ICC trophies except for the Lankan ICC trophy.

Bailey captained what match in 2015 WC ,just one against a team that lost against Bangladesh cmon man are you saying he would had captained Aus to 2015 WC?

And did nothing extraordinary, unlike what many others say.

The team in late 80's & 90's (including 96 WC) had very few proven match winners, 2~4 depending on who'd you consider as a match winner. The 2003/07/15 WC winning Aus team had 9~11 & that's how good they were. Our 2011 WC squad had 6~8 & all in good knick.

The point being even if Clarke didn't captain that Australian squad they'd still win in the finals, the SF was where Finch & Smith did their bit & in the final the game was lost in the first half, one could argue Mcculum's brain fade lost NZ that game.

 

[Drreddymd]

[MENTION=137142]JaDed[/MENTION] what so great about captaincy ? Even darren sammy won two world t 20 s ? Does it make him a great captain ?

 

[yasir]

First Gunguly and then Dhoni are the best thing ever happened to Indian Cricket, these two took Indian Cricket to tier 1. Let's see what Kohli does, signs are there that Kohli too will take Indian Cricket forward...

Dhoni's biggest asset is/was his ICE Cool nerves, that is rare quality, that is so vital in Limited Overs Cricket!!!

 

[RamLakhan]

I think some folks want to get back to that "Sachin Era" where one individual performs, gets out, TV switched off, Stadiums burnt scenario! They do not want to appreciate someone who took us ahead the line, won the matches & trophies! I think these people have become too jealous and too greedy now that Indian team is winning many games and become a top team to reckon (Even in the last two ICC world cups - only Australia & West Indies were respectively the better teams!)

I hope Kohli doesn't get pressurized with captaining all formats, other players going down, people concentrating too much on his individual performance (All these could lead to both his and team's downfall). I hope he acts smartly and keep concentrating on the team and concentrates on winning matches (his individual performance automatically shines without doubt!). Now people should not call for Dhoni's exit, we haven't got the proper replacement yet. Instead of thinking emotionally, we should act smartly like Australian team (of the past).

Dhoni captained the Indian team for a bit longer because there was nobody to replace (his captaincy) and he is still playing as Wicket-keeper batsman (wicket-keeper batsman is the word which I think people have forgotten conveniently) though he has lost his best! If he is not doing well according to expectations then somebody else should take over and even replace him. Who has stopped it?

 

[Barragan]

Hats off to Dhoni.

Despite being arguably the greatest ODI captain, he still steps down and to let the others take the ship forward.

True gentleman and honorable man.

 

[DHONI183]

Mahendra Singh Dhoni steps down as ODI and T20I captain of the Indian Cricket Team

Sad to hear about the health issues.

Hoping for a quick recovery.

Tremors, anxiety, massive anxiety attacks, difficulty in concentration, confusion in thinking, heart palpitations, hypoglycemic attacks... And what did the doctors say? "It´s all in my head" (a favourite phrase of theirs nowadays). Like MS, I stuck to my gut feeling and kept digging, kept digging for months and months, forced my GP to give me a referral to an endocrinologist (with whom I´d in advance fixed an appointment). Turns out, I´ve adrenal insufficiency - deficiency of the cortisol hormone (what I´d feared beforehand, although my guess was hypercortisolism), the stress hormone. The ordeal is far from over yet, far from it, but I know God has planned some ease for me (Qur´an 94:5). Some day it´ll arrive.

How much of the deficiency can be blamed upon MS is a tough to say, but at least a percent of it goes to him for all the nervousness and extreme stress that he caused me for nine years as captain! It wasn´t easy to take an instant blow, but perhaps his stepping down is best for me too.

This world is a strange place. We realise someone´s worth once he is taken away from us, or retires, but in MS´ case he hasn´t even retired yet. He´s just left the captaincy and already great things have been said about him, some wonderful statements have followed from Kohli, Yuvraj, Rohit etc., which confirms what I´d believed since years now: the legend of Dhoni will grow, it´ll grow bigger once he leaves the stage altogether.

People often casually conclude that he´s just plain lucky. Well, I too believe that he was lucky, there´s no shame in being lucky, no shame if God has written great things in your fate, but it´s the interpretation of that tag that I strongly disagree with. It´s not as if he did nothing and the team kept piling on the trophies! My interpretation is, that he took some incredibly dangerous and bold decisions that just paid off. Again, "Gut feeling". Three ICC tournament finals, three decisions that are possibly unmatched in the history of limited-overs cricket by any captain: Joginder Sharma (I mean, seriously?), batting at five despite being in horrible form since months, and sticking with Ishant (Erm, what?) when he was becoming the single biggest reason for the game completely slipping away from India. All clicked, all worked. A man without luck and three finals lost by a foolish captain, a man with even fortunes and a one or at most two are won. But. Gut. Feeling. MS. If he isn´t the greatest captain, then at least he is the only captain who carries a sheet in his pocket on which is written what God has written in his fate. Or just a genius?

As for the debate about him in general as to how good a bad captain he was, Ponting has in fact won four ICC trophies, Sammy too has won two World T20s, so what´s the fuss about? People fail to realise that MS´ uniqueness as captain lies in some thin details that need to be paid attention to. Minus him, his team hadn´t won an ICC trophy in 24 years; minus him it´s one trophy in so many decades. Secondly, cricket is a game of different formats and different types of tournaments, and its fan base is diverse on many issues. For example, some dismiss T20 cricket as "Hit and giggle" cricket and consider ODI cricket that looks like cricket, and its world cup as the only stage that counts. Some, from the newer generations, dismiss ODI cricket as "boring" and consider T20 the only format that matches the physical demands of soccer and similar sports. Some love the ICC Champions Trophy for the fact that it´s the only tournament that saves us the minnow-bashing and is contested between only top eight teams. That´s MS, that´s where he demands respect by all kinds of cricket fans. That´s where forever he´ll stay unique, I prophecy (combine it with the achievement mentioned below).

I fully admit that he falls short in Test cricket, but even there his fans will take the stay at the number one rankings for two and a half years - something that I don´t think has been achieved by any team other than Australia and South Africa (well, the West Indies too if you accept the ridiculous concept of going by the rankings from the past years when they actually, in reality didn´t even exist!). A drawn series in South Africa and in Sri Lanka, whitewashing Australia at home and not losing a single test series for first almost three years as captain will go down as highlights for him, but no doubt that he fell short in that format.

Again, good or bad, best or worst, MS will forever stay in my memories as the captain under whom life was breathed into the dullest of matches, of which many, many he won and some he lost. The tied matches, Joginder Sharma, Ishant Sharma, Hardik Pandya, taking off the glove for the last ball to be able to throw the ball (unmatched in human history), bringing Zaheer at the right time, giving Yuvraj or Kohli an over out of nowhere to get wickets out of nowhere, and as batsman, giving tailenders the strike, leaving it till almost it´s too late, hitting impossible amount of runs in the last over to win.

Gut feeling, a thing that connects me with him, even though my gut too is mostly inflamed.

 

[Stark]

^^ Yaar tum theek ho jao jald se jald.., aur ache se positive stuff post kiya karo.
It is always good to see one from the sane brigade posting stuff

 

[street cricketer]

Tremors, anxiety, massive anxiety attacks, difficulty in concentration, confusion in thinking, heart palpitations, hypoglycemic attacks... And what did the doctors say? "It´s all in my head" (a favourite phrase of theirs nowadays). Like MS, I stuck to my gut feeling and kept digging, kept digging for months and months, forced my GP to give me a referral to an endocrinologist (with whom I´d in advance fixed an appointment). Turns out, I´ve adrenal insufficiency - deficiency of the cortisol hormone (what I´d feared beforehand, although my guess was hypercortisolism), the stress hormone. The ordeal is far from over yet, far from it, but I know God has planned some ease for me (Qur´an 94:5). Some day it´ll arrive.

How much of the deficiency can be blamed upon MS is a tough to say, but at least a percent of it goes to him for all the nervousness and extreme stress that he caused me for nine years as captain! It wasn´t easy to take an instant blow, but perhaps his stepping down is best for me too.

This world is a strange place. We realise someone´s worth once he is taken away from us, or retires, but in MS´ case he hasn´t even retired yet. He´s just left the captaincy and already great things have been said about him, some wonderful statements have followed from Kohli, Yuvraj, Rohit etc., which confirms what I´d believed since years now: the legend of Dhoni will grow, it´ll grow bigger once he leaves the stage altogether.

People often casually conclude that he´s just plain lucky. Well, I too believe that he was lucky, there´s no shame in being lucky, no shame if God has written great things in your fate, but it´s the interpretation of that tag that I strongly disagree with. It´s not as if he did nothing and the team kept piling on the trophies! My interpretation is, that he took some incredibly dangerous and bold decisions that just paid off. Again, "Gut feeling". Three ICC tournament finals, three decisions that are possibly unmatched in the history of limited-overs cricket by any captain: Joginder Sharma (I mean, seriously?), batting at five despite being in horrible form since months, and sticking with Ishant (Erm, what?) when he was becoming the single biggest reason for the game completely slipping away from India. All clicked, all worked. A man without luck and three finals lost by a foolish captain, a man with even fortunes and a one or at most two are won. But. Gut. Feeling. MS. If he isn´t the greatest captain, then at least he is the only captain who carries a sheet in his pocket on which is written what God has written in his fate. Or just a genius?

As for the debate about him in general as to how good a bad captain he was, Ponting has in fact won four ICC trophies, Sammy too has won two World T20s, so what´s the fuss about? People fail to realise that MS´ uniqueness as captain lies in some thin details that need to be paid attention to. Minus him, his team hadn´t won an ICC trophy in 24 years; minus him it´s one trophy in so many decades. Secondly, cricket is a game of different formats and different types of tournaments, and its fan base is diverse on many issues. For example, some dismiss T20 cricket as "Hit and giggle" cricket and consider ODI cricket that looks like cricket, and its world cup as the only stage that counts. Some, from the newer generations, dismiss ODI cricket as "boring" and consider T20 the only format that matches the physical demands of soccer and similar sports. Some love the ICC Champions Trophy for the fact that it´s the only tournament that saves us the minnow-bashing and is contested between only top eight teams. That´s MS, that´s where he demands respect by all kinds of cricket fans. That´s where forever he´ll stay unique, I prophecy (combine it with the achievement mentioned below).

I fully admit that he falls short in Test cricket, but even there his fans will take the stay at the number one rankings for two and a half years - something that I don´t think has been achieved by any team other than Australia and South Africa (well, the West Indies too if you accept the ridiculous concept of going by the rankings from the past years when they actually, in reality didn´t even exist!). A drawn series in South Africa and in Sri Lanka, whitewashing Australia at home and not losing a single test series for first almost three years as captain will go down as highlights for him, but no doubt that he fell short in that format.

Again, good or bad, best or worst, MS will forever stay in my memories as the captain under whom life was breathed into the dullest of matches, of which many, many he won and some he lost. The tied matches, Joginder Sharma, Ishant Sharma, Hardik Pandya, taking off the glove for the last ball to be able to throw the ball (unmatched in human history), bringing Zaheer at the right time, giving Yuvraj or Kohli an over out of nowhere to get wickets out of nowhere, and as batsman, giving tailenders the strike, leaving it till almost it´s too late, hitting impossible amount of runs in the last over to win.

Gut feeling, a thing that connects me with him, even though my gut too is mostly inflamed.

Chin up mate. I know how you feel, these problems are always like a sucker punch, you feel completely normal all your life and suddenly some nasty one comes along and turns out you had it coming all the time. If it's any comforting, I suffer from a similar steroid deficiency too. Was completely normal until about an year back when I suddenly started gaining weight. Now I have always been a lean guy and got overjoyed when I was finally putting on weight. Turns out it was due to thyroxine deficiency Became lean once again after I started taking medication to correct the deficiency.

Body is like a vehicle. It keeps ageing as years pass on and you're bound to encounter problems as you go on just like your vehicle, afterall nothing remains new forever. Key is to not get frustrated (which admittedly I was in the past) and just take the bad with the good and go on. Many people experience much worse things in life and I always feel I got off lightly when I see their situations. Don't want to turn this thread into a grievance club, so let's discuss some good old cricket.

Dhoni has always been a calculated cricketer and one thing I have always admired in him is he doesn't get carried away with the emotions of sport. He just sees game as a game and nothing more than that. And he keeps calmly calculating the equations of success and failure within his head and executes those equations as serenely as possible. Yes, he has always not ended up successful but he has been right more times than not. However I think he has come to an age where it's difficult to keep trusting his body to keep up with his mind. I don't think he's good enough to be as a finisher now that he has lost his quick hands. Even as an accumulator, I think he may end up sucking the momentum of the innings as he's not someone who seamlessly rotates the strike like Kohli and needs some time to get going. It may be a left field suggestion, but what if Dhoni is given the position of the opener and given the license to attack. The opening position is the easiest in LOIs and will be apt to bring out the old Dhoni of 2004-06 where he used to belt the ball to all parts of the ground. Rohit and Dhoni opening with Kohli, Rahul, Pandey, Raina and Pant coming below him will not be too bad an idea I think. What do you reckon?

 

[DHONI183]

Mahendra Singh Dhoni steps down as ODI and T20I captain of the Indian Cricket Team

^^ Yaar tum theek ho jao jald se jald.., aur ache se positive stuff post kiya karo.
It is always good to see one from the sane brigade posting stuff

Dhanyewaad bhai, aapki subh kaamnaayo´n ke liye. The above post of mine, I´d been composing it since five days but couldn´t get myself to type it all in one go. Earlier today I felt I´m in good space and hit the keyboard. I´m hopeful that things will improve soon - well, they´ve to.

Chin up mate. I know how you feel, these problems are always like a sucker punch, you feel completely normal all your life and suddenly some nasty one comes along and turns out you had it coming all the time. If it's any comforting, I suffer from a similar steroid deficiency too. Was completely normal until about an year back when I suddenly started gaining weight. Now I have always been a lean guy and got overjoyed when I was finally putting on weight. Turns out it was due to thyroxine deficiency Became lean once again after I started taking medication to correct the deficiency.

Body is like a vehicle. It keeps ageing as years pass on and you're bound to encounter problems as you go on just like your vehicle, afterall nothing remains new forever. Key is to not get frustrated (which admittedly I was in the past) and just take the bad with the good and go on. Many people experience much worse things in life and I always feel I got off lightly when I see their situations. Don't want to turn this thread into a grievance club, so let's discuss some good old cricket.

Haha, right man. Body is indeed like a vehicle; and as it is anyway, these things are a part of our life. I suffer from thyroxine insufficiency too, since more than six years now. That wasn´t a problem and was treated well, but the thing is that cortisol insufficiency and that insufficiency are too illnesses that badly interact with each other. Treating one causes further lowering of the other. So, whereas my prescribed Levothyroxine dose is 50 mcg, I can´t tolerate anything beyond 12.5 - which too turns intolerable after three-four days and hence I´ve to discontinue its therapy after every three-four days. Low cortisol causes Levothyroxine toxicity even with extremely low doses, and cortisol insufficiency cause Levothyroxine toxicity. It´s like going in endless circle. Oh´ well, damn it!

Dhoni has always been a calculated cricketer and one thing I have always admired in him is he doesn't get carried away with the emotions of sport. He just sees game as a game and nothing more than that. And he keeps calmly calculating the equations of success and failure within his head and executes those equations as serenely as possible. Yes, he has always not ended up successful but he has been right more times than not.

And again, this is one of many definitions of MS. From very early as captain, one statement of his that´ll stay with me forever is that commitment is everything in his opinion, and that he valued it above good results - something along these lines.

His lack of emotions made a nation of billions pour endless emotions on amongst cricket´s most nerve-wrecking evenings. Sometimes, after whitewashes and all that, cricket fans, writers and experts would desperately wish for him to burst his emotions and show anger on his board, selectors, coaches, team, bowlers, chefs, drivers, but he would simply say they weren´t good enough. Simple. They tried, he tried, but the opposition was just better. MS is one guy who has changed the way I look at sports. Now, I´m just satisfied with my favourite player or team simply playing or trying. I understand them and their suffering better, and that no one loses on purpose. No one wants to be the villain. Criticism and analysis are fine and most welcome of course, but I despise postmortems.

However I think he has come to an age where it's difficult to keep trusting his body to keep up with his mind. I don't think he's good enough to be as a finisher now that he has lost his quick hands. Even as an accumulator, I think he may end up sucking the momentum of the innings as he's not someone who seamlessly rotates the strike like Kohli and needs some time to get going. It may be a left field suggestion, but what if Dhoni is given the position of the opener and given the license to attack. The opening position is the easiest in LOIs and will be apt to bring out the old Dhoni of 2004-06 where he used to belt the ball to all parts of the ground. Rohit and Dhoni opening with Kohli, Rahul, Pandey, Raina and Pant coming below him will not be too bad an idea I think. What do you reckon?

Opening with him when there are rich options available, such as Dhawan, Rohit, KL Rahul, would upset the team´s set-up give the impression as if the team is set around MS, which is something that neither Kohli, nor he himself would want. Besides, MS has so rarely opening at the international level that he would feel being thrown into a whole new role. So a couple of failures might dent his confidence for the good. Also, I´m not sure that being given the license to attack would make him play too different. Of course, he has today expressed the willingness to fit himself into the role given to him by the think-tank, but I fear that MS as batsman will never be able to shun the captain within him. He´ll continue to take time to get in and then blast, but whether that works for him now is to be seen. But if there´s a method that can work for him at all, it´s that. I mean, he has spent nine years playing in that fashion. I´ve seen batsman adopt a new style of batting, like MS himself did after being given the captaincy, but rarely seen a batsman go back to his old approach after so many years.

It´s clear though that the finisher´s role in the lower-order is not suited to him anymore either. His batting position will be a riddle to Kohli. Let´s see what they decide, but I think the fourth or fifth slot should be tried for a short period to see how it goes.

Lastly, I heard someone say that we´ll see how much of an impact MS´ captaincy had on the team´s success in the coming years. If they go on to achieve things that they did under him, that it simply was the case that the Indian team´s transformation into a winning team just happened to have coincided with him being the captain.

Now, that´s as good as myself saying that we´ll see if I go onto have children, and if it indeed happens so, then I didn´t need my parents because our progeny would´ve survived anyway!

 

[DHONI183]

Mahendra Singh Dhoni steps down as ODI and T20I captain of the Indian Cricket Team

Kohli of course is the face of the current India. He needs to be given the reigns. MS saw it and stepped aside at the right time. I´m sure his team too will achieve great successes, although they won´t come in a plate.

 

[Stark]

Dhanyewaad bhai, aapki shubh kaamnaayo´n ke liye. The above post of mine, I´d been composing it since five days but couldn´t get myself to type it all in one go. Earlier today I felt I´m in good space and hit the keyboard. I´m hopeful that things will improve soon - well, they´ve to.

5 din..! Zabardast. Ek mukammal post ka alag hi zayeka hota hai.

Kohli of course is the face of the current India. He needs to be given the reigns. MS saw it and stepped aside at the right time. I´m sure his team too will achieve great successes, although they won´t come in a plate.

While I am not entirely sure that his decision was purely n 100% his, I am happy that the timing means that team will start to move into position in an orderly fashion before major tournaments.

Hoping that Kohli has indeed curbed his restless nature. The way few of the DRS options were taken, ample evidence that he still has few more paces to cover.

 

[DHONI183]

Mahendra Singh Dhoni steps down as ODI and T20I captain of the Indian Cricket Team

I´m not sure of this since I didn´t watch the first innings of yesterday´s match (we were watching Pakistan´s match against Australia), but I´m reading some news websites claiming that when Morgan got an edge behind to MS, it was MS who signaled for the review to be taken, and going against the protocol, the umpire sent it upstairs without/before being asked by the captain. So you see, not only he himself, the whole world is used to seeing him captain a team.

Besides, I also read that on a couple of occasions bowlers like Yadav and Bumrah mistakenly looked in MS´ direction for directions on how to bowl.

 

[Gabbar Singh]

Didn't think MS Dhoni still had this in him. Top innings.

 

[jeetu]

Dhoni wasn't at his best of old still what a knock.

 

[Midwinter13992]

Good knock..But Ugly To Watch

 

[Mp812]

Dhoni steps down as captain and scores a century two matches later that too when India was 25/3 , lending full support to a junior player who became captain.
Hopefully he can contribute as player this time in 2019 Worldcup.
Indian batting does loook strong in ODIs even if compared to fab5 days.
KL Rahul and RohitSharma are good fast scoring openers.
Kohli is good number 3. Then Manish pandey , Jadhav , Dhoni and Pandya ( slogger but can score quick 30s or 40s )
Batting does look good.
Hopefully the bowlers for WC2019 are a fit Bhuvi,M.Shami and Bumrah.

 

[DHONI183]

Mahendra Singh Dhoni steps down as ODI and T20I captain of the Indian Cricket Team

Didn't think MS Dhoni still had this in him. Top innings.

Dhoni wasn't at his best of old still what a knock.

That six that took him to 99, also his 200th six, was monstrous. Just wow! You don´t need to know the details of what happened on the previous ball (he was denied a six due to the ball hitting the camera). That shot was played in immense anger. I thought Yuvraj played the better innings as he looked in sublime touch right from the word and batted at a healthy strike-rate throughout. MS looked a bit scrappy in between, but once he went past 80 he mastered the occasion. The three sixes in the over that he eventually got out were awesome, too.

Good old memories brought back by that partnership. I´ve watched its highlights three times already!

.... But if there´s a method that can work for him at all, it´s that...

As I prophesied above, the key to his success yesterday was that he took his time in getting set - he was 1 off 15 at one stage and then 26 off 50. The match situation, 25/3, demanded from him to play like he does when he´s at his best. Surely, if someone has such a great track recording of catching up later on in the innings, he does so more than 80% of the times, then why shouldn´t he stick to his approach?

I´d an appointment yesterday and left home when India were around 50/3. Came back home to find him batting at 30 or so and from that moment I set my eyes on a hundred.

 

[Romali_rotti]

That six that took him to 99, also his 200th six, was monstrous.

Is that the most no of 6s by a batsmen in ODIs ?

 

[ShoonyaSifar]

Somehow not yet convinced with both Dhoni and Yuvraj. They are good enough for one off knocks like this, but sustaining this will be very difficult

 

[jeetu]

Is that the most no of 6s by a batsmen in ODIs ?

Afridi has this record by big margin.

[table=width: 700, class: grid, align: center]
[tr][td]Player [/td][td]6s [/td][td]4s [/td][td]Mat [/td][td]Inns [/td][td]Runs [/td][td]Ave [/td][td]SR [/td][/tr]
[tr][td]Shahid Afridi (Asia/ICC/PAK) [/td][td]351 [/td][td]730 [/td][td]398 [/td][td]369 [/td][td]8064 [/td][td]23.57 [/td][td]117 [/td][/tr]
[tr][td]ST Jayasuriya (Asia/SL) [/td][td]270 [/td][td]1500 [/td][td]445 [/td][td]433 [/td][td]13430 [/td][td]32.36 [/td][td]91.2 [/td][/tr]
[tr][td]CH Gayle (ICC/WI) [/td][td]238 [/td][td]1038 [/td][td]269 [/td][td]264 [/td][td]9221 [/td][td]37.33 [/td][td]85.11 [/td][/tr]
[tr][td]MS Dhoni (Asia/INDIA) [/td][td]203 [/td][td]716 [/td][td]285 [/td][td]248 [/td][td]9250 [/td][td]51.1 [/td][td]89.05 [/td][/tr]
[tr][td]BB McCullum (NZ) [/td][td]200 [/td][td]577 [/td][td]260 [/td][td]228 [/td][td]6083 [/td][td]30.41 [/td][td]96.37 [/td][/tr]
[tr][td]SR Tendulkar (INDIA) [/td][td]195 [/td][td]2016 [/td][td]463 [/td][td]452 [/td][td]18426 [/td][td]44.83 [/td][td]86.23 [/td][/tr]
[tr][td]SC Ganguly (Asia/INDIA) [/td][td]190 [/td][td]1122 [/td][td]311 [/td][td]300 [/td][td]11363 [/td][td]41.02 [/td][td]73.7 [/td][/tr]
[tr][td]AB de Villiers (Afr/SA) [/td][td]187 [/td][td]768 [/td][td]206 [/td][td]197 [/td][td]8742 [/td][td]53.63 [/td][td]99.87 [/td][/tr]
[tr][td]RT Ponting (AUS/ICC) [/td][td]162 [/td][td]1231 [/td][td]375 [/td][td]365 [/td][td]13704 [/td][td]42.03 [/td][td]80.39 [/td][/tr]
[tr][td]CL Cairns (ICC/NZ) [/td][td]153 [/td][td]345 [/td][td]215 [/td][td]193 [/td][td]4950 [/td][td]29.46 [/td][td]84.26 [/td][/tr]
[tr][td]Yuvraj Singh (Asia/INDIA) [/td][td]152 [/td][td]885 [/td][td]295 [/td][td]270 [/td][td]8494 [/td][td]36.77 [/td][td]87.69 [/td][/tr]
[tr][td]AC Gilchrist (AUS/ICC) [/td][td]149 [/td][td]1162 [/td][td]287 [/td][td]279 [/td][td]9619 [/td][td]35.89 [/td][td]96.94 [/td][/tr]
[tr][td]Inzamam-ul-Haq (Asia/PAK) [/td][td]144 [/td][td]971 [/td][td]378 [/td][td]350 [/td][td]11739 [/td][td]39.52 [/td][td]74.24 [/td][/tr]
[tr][td]JH Kallis (Afr/ICC/SA) [/td][td]137 [/td][td]911 [/td][td]328 [/td][td]314 [/td][td]11579 [/td][td]44.36 [/td][td]72.89 [/td][/tr]
[tr][td]V Sehwag (Asia/ICC/INDIA) [/td][td]136 [/td][td]1132 [/td][td]251 [/td][td]245 [/td][td]8273 [/td][td]35.05 [/td][td]104.33 [/td][/tr]
[tr][td]BC Lara (ICC/WI) [/td][td]133+ [/td][td]1035+ [/td][td]299 [/td][td]289 [/td][td]10405 [/td][td]40.48 [/td][td]79.51 [/td][/tr]
[tr][td]SR Watson (AUS) [/td][td]131 [/td][td]570 [/td][td]190 [/td][td]169 [/td][td]5757 [/td][td]40.54 [/td][td]90.44 [/td][/tr]
[tr][td]EJG Morgan (ENG/IRE) [/td][td]129 [/td][td]427 [/td][td]172 [/td][td]161 [/td][td]5150 [/td][td]37.59 [/td][td]87.91 [/td][/tr]
[tr][td]HH Gibbs (SA) [/td][td]128 [/td][td]930 [/td][td]248 [/td][td]240 [/td][td]8094 [/td][td]36.13 [/td][td]83.26 [/td][/tr]
[tr][td]MJ Guptill (NZ) [/td][td]126 [/td][td]530 [/td][td]140 [/td][td]137 [/td][td]5169 [/td][td]42.36 [/td][td]86.84 [/td][/tr]
[tr][td]IVA Richards (WI) [/td][td]126+ [/td][td]600+ [/td][td]187 [/td][td]167 [/td][td]6721 [/td][td]47 [/td][td]90.2 [/td][/tr]
[tr][td]Abdul Razzaq (Asia/PAK) [/td][td]124 [/td][td]382 [/td][td]265 [/td][td]228 [/td][td]5080 [/td][td]29.7 [/td][td]81.25 [/td][/tr]
[tr][td]Wasim Akram (PAK) [/td][td]121+ [/td][td]247+ [/td][td]356 [/td][td]280 [/td][td]3717 [/td][td]16.52 [/td][td]88.33 [/td][/tr]
[tr][td]SK Raina (INDIA) [/td][td]120 [/td][td]475 [/td][td]223 [/td][td]192 [/td][td]5568 [/td][td]35.46 [/td][td]93.76 [/td][/tr]
[tr][td]LRPL Taylor (NZ) [/td][td]120 [/td][td]475 [/td][td]176 [/td][td]162 [/td][td]5826 [/td][td]43.15 [/td][td]82.05 [/td][/tr]
[tr][td]RG Sharma (INDIA) [/td][td]117 [/td][td]435 [/td][td]153 [/td][td]147 [/td][td]5131 [/td][td]41.37 [/td][td]84.43 [/td][/tr]
[tr][td]KA Pollard (WI) [/td][td]110 [/td][td]145 [/td][td]101 [/td][td]95 [/td][td]2289 [/td][td]25.71 [/td][td]92.89 [/td][/tr]
[tr][td]MN Samuels (WI) [/td][td]110 [/td][td]491 [/td][td]187 [/td][td]177 [/td][td]5180 [/td][td]34.3 [/td][td]76.24 [/td][/tr]
[tr][td]E Chigumbura (Afr/ZIM) [/td][td]104 [/td][td]335 [/td][td]205 [/td][td]190 [/td][td]4229 [/td][td]25.47 [/td][td]80.84 [/td][/tr]
[tr][td]A Symonds (AUS) [/td][td]103 [/td][td]449 [/td][td]198 [/td][td]161 [/td][td]5088 [/td][td]39.75 [/td][td]92.44 [/td][/tr]
[tr][td]PA de Silva (SL) [/td][td]102+ [/td][td]712+ [/td][td]308 [/td][td]296 [/td][td]9284 [/td][td]34.9 [/td][td]81.13 [/td][/tr]
[/table]

 

[jeetu]

Players sorted by Six hit percentage per match in ODI (min 50 Sixes)

[table=width: 600, class: grid, align: center]
[tr][td]Player [/td][td]Mat [/td][td]6s [/td][td]Six per match % [/td][/tr]
[tr][td]CJ Anderson (NZ) [/td][td]44 [/td][td]53 [/td][td]120.45 [/td][/tr]
[tr][td]KA Pollard (WI) [/td][td]101 [/td][td]110 [/td][td]108.91 [/td][/tr]
[tr][td]AD Russell (WI) [/td][td]51 [/td][td]53 [/td][td]103.92 [/td][/tr]
[tr][td]AB de Villiers (Afr/SA) [/td][td]206 [/td][td]187 [/td][td]90.78 [/td][/tr]
[tr][td]MJ Guptill (NZ) [/td][td]140 [/td][td]126 [/td][td]90.00 [/td][/tr]
[tr][td]CH Gayle (ICC/WI) [/td][td]269 [/td][td]238 [/td][td]88.48 [/td][/tr]
[tr][td]Shahid Afridi (Asia/ICC/PAK) [/td][td]398 [/td][td]351 [/td][td]88.19 [/td][/tr]
[tr][td]GJ Maxwell (AUS) [/td][td]70 [/td][td]61 [/td][td]87.14 [/td][/tr]
[tr][td]JC Buttler (ENG) [/td][td]83 [/td][td]70 [/td][td]84.34 [/td][/tr]
[tr][td]Mohammad Nabi (AFG) [/td][td]70 [/td][td]59 [/td][td]84.29 [/td][/tr]
[tr][td]BB McCullum (NZ) [/td][td]260 [/td][td]200 [/td][td]76.92 [/td][/tr]
[tr][td]RG Sharma (INDIA) [/td][td]153 [/td][td]117 [/td][td]76.47 [/td][/tr]
[tr][td]EJG Morgan (ENG/IRE) [/td][td]172 [/td][td]129 [/td][td]75.00 [/td][/tr]
[tr][td]LMP Simmons (WI) [/td][td]68 [/td][td]50 [/td][td]73.53 [/td][/tr]
[tr][td]MS Dhoni (Asia/INDIA) [/td][td]285 [/td][td]203 [/td][td]71.23 [/td][/tr]
[tr][td]CL Cairns (ICC/NZ) [/td][td]215 [/td][td]153 [/td][td]71.16 [/td][/tr]
[tr][td]JM Kemp (Afr/SA) [/td][td]85 [/td][td]60 [/td][td]70.59 [/td][/tr]
[tr][td]SR Watson (AUS) [/td][td]190 [/td][td]131 [/td][td]68.95 [/td][/tr]
[tr][td]AJ Finch (AUS) [/td][td]77 [/td][td]53 [/td][td]68.83 [/td][/tr]
[tr][td]RL Powell (WI) [/td][td]109 [/td][td]75 [/td][td]68.81 [/td][/tr]
[tr][td]LRPL Taylor (NZ) [/td][td]176 [/td][td]120 [/td][td]68.18 [/td][/tr]
[tr][td]IVA Richards (WI) [/td][td]187 [/td][td]126 [/td][td]67.38 [/td][/tr]
[tr][td]DJG Sammy (WI) [/td][td]126 [/td][td]84 [/td][td]66.67 [/td][/tr]
[tr][td]A Flintoff (ENG/ICC) [/td][td]141 [/td][td]93 [/td][td]65.96 [/td][/tr]
[tr][td]DA Miller (SA) [/td][td]87 [/td][td]56 [/td][td]64.37 [/td][/tr]
[tr][td]GJ Bailey (AUS) [/td][td]90 [/td][td]57 [/td][td]63.33 [/td][/tr]
[tr][td]CG Greenidge (WI) [/td][td]128 [/td][td]81 [/td][td]63.28 [/td][/tr]
[tr][td]DA Warner (AUS) [/td][td]91 [/td][td]57 [/td][td]62.64 [/td][/tr]
[tr][td]SC Ganguly (Asia/INDIA) [/td][td]311 [/td][td]190 [/td][td]61.09 [/td][/tr]
[tr][td]DR Smith (WI) [/td][td]105 [/td][td]64 [/td][td]60.95 [/td][/tr]
[tr][td]ST Jayasuriya (Asia/SL) [/td][td]445 [/td][td]270 [/td][td]60.67 [/td][/tr]
[tr][td]KJ O'Brien (IRE) [/td][td]103 [/td][td]62 [/td][td]60.19 [/td][/tr]
[tr][td]MN Samuels (WI) [/td][td]187 [/td][td]110 [/td][td]58.82 [/td][/tr]
[tr][td]DM Bravo (WI) [/td][td]94 [/td][td]55 [/td][td]58.51 [/td][/tr]
[tr][td]KP Pietersen (ENG/ICC) [/td][td]136 [/td][td]77 [/td][td]56.62 [/td][/tr]
[tr][td]BJ Haddin (AUS) [/td][td]126 [/td][td]71 [/td][td]56.35 [/td][/tr]
[tr][td]V Sehwag (Asia/ICC/INDIA) [/td][td]251 [/td][td]136 [/td][td]54.18 [/td][/tr]
[tr][td]ML Hayden (AUS/ICC) [/td][td]161 [/td][td]87 [/td][td]54.04 [/td][/tr]
[tr][td]SK Raina (INDIA) [/td][td]223 [/td][td]120 [/td][td]53.81 [/td][/tr]
[tr][td]A Symonds (AUS) [/td][td]198 [/td][td]103 [/td][td]52.02 [/td][/tr]
[tr][td]AC Gilchrist (AUS/ICC) [/td][td]287 [/td][td]149 [/td][td]51.92 [/td][/tr]
[tr][td]HH Gibbs (SA) [/td][td]248 [/td][td]128 [/td][td]51.61 [/td][/tr]
[tr][td]Yuvraj Singh (Asia/INDIA) [/td][td]295 [/td][td]152 [/td][td]51.53 [/td][/tr]
[tr][td]Misbah-ul-Haq (PAK) [/td][td]162 [/td][td]83 [/td][td]51.23 [/td][/tr]
[tr][td]E Chigumbura (Afr/ZIM) [/td][td]205 [/td][td]104 [/td][td]50.73 [/td][/tr]
[tr][td]JDP Oram (NZ) [/td][td]160 [/td][td]81 [/td][td]50.63 [/td][/tr]
[tr][td]WJ Cronje (SA) [/td][td]188 [/td][td]94 [/td][td]50.00 [/td][/tr]
[tr][td]Abdul Razzaq (Asia/PAK) [/td][td]265 [/td][td]124 [/td][td]46.79 [/td][/tr]
[tr][td]V Kohli (INDIA) [/td][td]178 [/td][td]81 [/td][td]45.51 [/td][/tr]
[tr][td]Mohammad Hafeez (PAK) [/td][td]180 [/td][td]81 [/td][td]45.00 [/td][/tr]
[tr][td]BC Lara (ICC/WI) [/td][td]299 [/td][td]133 [/td][td]44.48 [/td][/tr]
[tr][td]L Klusener (SA) [/td][td]171 [/td][td]76 [/td][td]44.44 [/td][/tr]
[tr][td]BRM Taylor (ZIM) [/td][td]167 [/td][td]74 [/td][td]44.31 [/td][/tr]
[tr][td]A Jadeja (INDIA) [/td][td]196 [/td][td]85 [/td][td]43.37 [/td][/tr]
[tr][td]MEK Hussey (AUS) [/td][td]185 [/td][td]80 [/td][td]43.24 [/td][/tr]
[tr][td]RT Ponting (AUS/ICC) [/td][td]375 [/td][td]162 [/td][td]43.20 [/td][/tr]
[tr][td]CD McMillan (NZ) [/td][td]197 [/td][td]84 [/td][td]42.64 [/td][/tr]
[tr][td]SR Tendulkar (INDIA) [/td][td]463 [/td][td]195 [/td][td]42.12 [/td][/tr]
[tr][td]WW Hinds (WI) [/td][td]119 [/td][td]50 [/td][td]42.02 [/td][/tr]
[tr][td]TM Odoyo (Afr/KENYA) [/td][td]136 [/td][td]57 [/td][td]41.91 [/td][/tr]
[tr][td]JH Kallis (Afr/ICC/SA) [/td][td]328 [/td][td]137 [/td][td]41.77 [/td][/tr]
[tr][td]H Masakadza (ZIM) [/td][td]170 [/td][td]71 [/td][td]41.76 [/td][/tr]
[tr][td]AD Mathews (SL) [/td][td]180 [/td][td]72 [/td][td]40.00 [/td][/tr]
[tr][td]Tamim Iqbal (BDESH) [/td][td]162 [/td][td]64 [/td][td]39.51 [/td][/tr]
[tr][td]Saeed Anwar (PAK) [/td][td]247 [/td][td]97 [/td][td]39.27 [/td][/tr]
[tr][td]DM Jones (AUS) [/td][td]164 [/td][td]64 [/td][td]39.02 [/td][/tr]
[tr][td]JP Duminy (SA) [/td][td]162 [/td][td]63 [/td][td]38.89 [/td][/tr]
[tr][td]NJ Astle (NZ) [/td][td]223 [/td][td]86 [/td][td]38.57 [/td][/tr]
[tr][td]Inzamam-ul-Haq (Asia/PAK) [/td][td]378 [/td][td]144 [/td][td]38.10 [/td][/tr]
[tr][td]Shoaib Malik (PAK) [/td][td]242 [/td][td]92 [/td][td]38.02 [/td][/tr]
[tr][td]PD Collingwood (ENG) [/td][td]197 [/td][td]74 [/td][td]37.56 [/td][/tr]
[tr][td]SB Styris (NZ) [/td][td]188 [/td][td]68 [/td][td]36.17 [/td][/tr]
[tr][td]DJ Bravo (WI) [/td][td]164 [/td][td]58 [/td][td]35.37 [/td][/tr]
[tr][td]Ijaz Ahmed (PAK) [/td][td]250 [/td][td]87 [/td][td]34.80 [/td][/tr]
[tr][td]Wasim Akram (PAK) [/td][td]356 [/td][td]121 [/td][td]33.99 [/td][/tr]
[tr][td]PA de Silva (SL) [/td][td]308 [/td][td]102 [/td][td]33.12 [/td][/tr]
[tr][td]Mushfiqur Rahim (BDESH) [/td][td]165 [/td][td]54 [/td][td]32.73 [/td][/tr]
[tr][td]RR Sarwan (WI) [/td][td]181 [/td][td]58 [/td][td]32.04 [/td][/tr]
[tr][td]S Chanderpaul (WI) [/td][td]268 [/td][td]85 [/td][td]31.72 [/td][/tr]
[tr][td]Mashrafe Mortaza (Asia/BDESH) [/td][td]169 [/td][td]53 [/td][td]31.36 [/td][/tr]
[tr][td]Mohammad Yousuf (Asia/PAK) [/td][td]288 [/td][td]90 [/td][td]31.25 [/td][/tr]
[tr][td]N Kapil Dev (INDIA) [/td][td]225 [/td][td]67 [/td][td]29.78 [/td][/tr]
[tr][td]CL Hooper (WI) [/td][td]227 [/td][td]65 [/td][td]28.63 [/td][/tr]
[tr][td]MV Boucher (Afr/SA) [/td][td]295 [/td][td]83 [/td][td]28.14 [/td][/tr]
[tr][td]Moin Khan (PAK) [/td][td]219 [/td][td]61 [/td][td]27.85 [/td][/tr]
[tr][td]RB Richardson (WI) [/td][td]224 [/td][td]54 [/td][td]24.11 [/td][/tr]
[tr][td]A Ranatunga (SL) [/td][td]269 [/td][td]64 [/td][td]23.79 [/td][/tr]
[tr][td]ME Waugh (AUS) [/td][td]244 [/td][td]57 [/td][td]23.36 [/td][/tr]
[tr][td]M Azharuddin (INDIA) [/td][td]334 [/td][td]77 [/td][td]23.05 [/td][/tr]
[tr][td]SP Fleming (ICC/NZ) [/td][td]280 [/td][td]63 [/td][td]22.50 [/td][/tr]
[tr][td]DL Haynes (WI) [/td][td]238 [/td][td]53 [/td][td]22.27 [/td][/tr]
[tr][td]KC Sangakkara (Asia/ICC/SL) [/td][td]404 [/td][td]88 [/td][td]21.78 [/td][/tr]
[tr][td]MJ Clarke (AUS) [/td][td]245 [/td][td]53 [/td][td]21.63 [/td][/tr]
[tr][td]Younis Khan (PAK) [/td][td]265 [/td][td]56 [/td][td]21.13 [/td][/tr]
[tr][td]SR Waugh (AUS) [/td][td]325 [/td][td]68 [/td][td]20.92 [/td][/tr]
[tr][td]SM Pollock (Afr/ICC/SA) [/td][td]303 [/td][td]58 [/td][td]19.14 [/td][/tr]
[tr][td]DPMD Jayawardene (Asia/SL) [/td][td]448 [/td][td]76 [/td][td]16.96 [/td][/tr]
[tr][td]TM Dilshan (SL) [/td][td]330 [/td][td]55 [/td][td]16.67 [/td][/tr]
[tr][td]Umar Akmal (PAK) [/td][td]114 [/td][td]5 [/td][td]4.39 [/td][/tr]
[/table]

 

[Smbhayi]

Is that the most no of 6s by a batsmen in ODIs ?

surely you know who holds that record

 

[Statsman]

Is that the most no of 6s by a batsmen in ODIs ?

You must be kidding

 

[Tekcirc]

surely you know who holds that record

surpised at how low Afridi is in %6per match! Dhoni can easily be expected to overhaul that as now his captaincy tuk tuk days should be over and go into free flowing marauderer mode!

is someone who can go past 300 sixes easily if he plays till 2019 WC.

 

[Smbhayi]

[MENTION=138787]surprise[/MENTION]d at how low Afridi is in %6per match! Dhoni can easily be expected to overhaul that as now his captaincy tuk tuk days should be over and go into free flowing marauderer mode!

is someone who can go past 300 sixes easily if he plays till 2019 WC.

actually nope. he mostly played when the grounds are at least 80 mtr distance for the 6. his most of the mishit in his earlier career could've cleared in today's ground.

 

[Smbhayi]

Asia Cup for example.

 

[Tekcirc]

actually nope. he mostly played when the grounds are at least 80 mtr distance for the 6. his most of the mishit in his earlier career could've cleared in today's ground.

I don't think grounds in India and Pakistan were ever as big as 80 mtrs boundary!

 

[Smbhayi]

I don't think grounds in India and Pakistan were ever as big as 80 mtrs boundary!

may be, but not short as today's 60 meters!

 

[Tekcirc]

may be, but not short as today's 60 meters!

What makes you say that!! Dude, just because scores have gone up, doesnt mean that grounds have become smaller in ODIs. Feroz shah kotla was still a sub 60 mtr ground in 96 as it is now!!

Grounds in Asia were always on the short side and they have not been reduced anywhere. I would be glad to learn of any major ground whose boundary was reduced.