India’s World Cup-winning captain MS Dhoni on Saturday announced retirement from international cricket.
Taking to Instagram, the wicket-keeper-batsman shared a video and captioned the post, “Thanks a lot for ur love and support throughout. from 1929 hrs consider me as Retired.
An hour later Dhoni’s CSK teammate and former Indian middle order batsman Suresh Raina also announced his retirement from international cricket in an Instagram post.
For over a decade, Dhoni’s swashbuckling batting style, especially the famed helicopter shot, gave international bowlers a headache.
It was on April 5, 2005, when Dhoni scored his first international century. The former skipper registered the feat against Pakistan in the second ODI of the six-match series. The match was played at the Dr YS Rajasekhara Reddy ACA-VDCA Cricket Stadium in Visakhapatnam.
Debut
Dhoni made his ODI debut against Bangladesh in 2004. However, he did not have a good outing as he scored just 19 runs in the three-match series. But the wicket-keeper truly arrived in the series against Pakistan in 2005, as he scored 148 runs in the second ODI of the six-match series at Visakhapatnam.
Captain cool’s milestone
Dhoni played 350 ODIs with his highest score being 183 against Sri Lanka. He also remains the only captain to win all major ICC trophies (50-over World Cup, T20 World Cup, and Champions Trophy).
Also referred to as ‘Captain Cool’, Dhoni is known for his calm demeanour and sharp captaincy on the field.
Over the years, he has cemented his place as one of the finest wicket-keepers across the world. His agility behind the stumps has given India many breakthroughs as the Ranchi-based wicket-keeper has proven to be as adept with keeping gloves as he has been with the bat.
Let’s take a look at Dhoni’s international career statistics
Test cricket
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Under Dhoni’s captaincy, India topped the Test cricket rankings for the first time, in 2009. -
In 60 Test matches with Dhoni as captain, India won 27 and lost 18. -
He is the first Indian wicket-keeper to complete 4,000 Test runs. -
The wicket keeper batsman’s 224 against Australia in Chennai is the third highest score by an Indian captain and it is also the highest Test score by an Indian wicket-keeper -
Dhoni’s century against Pakistan in Faisalabad (148) is the fastest century scored by an Indian wicket-keeper. -
With 294 dismissals in his career, Dhoni ranks first in the all-time dismissals list by Indian wicket-keepers.
ODI cricket
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Dhoni is third captain (and the first non-Australian) overall to win 100 games. -
Fourth Indian to reach 10,000 ODI runs after Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly & Rahul Dravid and also the second wicket-keeper to reach the milestone. -
Most career runs (4031) in ODI history when batting at number 6 position and earned a reputation for being the best finisher. -
Only player to score more than one hundred in ODI cricket when batting at number 7 position or lower (Dhoni has 2 centuries at number 7). -
Most not outs (82) in ODIs, another stats that stablise him as match winner. -
First Indian and fifth overall to hit 200 sixes in ODIs. -
Dhoni’s 183 not out against Sri Lanka in 2005 is the highest score by a wicket-keeper. -
Holds the record for playing the most matches in ODI history as captain who has also served as a wicket-keeper (200). -
Dhoni has the most stumpings (120) by any wicket-keeper in his ODI career and is so far the only keeper to pass 100 stumpings. -
First Indian wicket-keeper to take 300 ODI catches and fourth wicket-keeper in the world to achieve the feat.
T20 International
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Most matches in T20I history as both captain and wicket-keeper (72) -
Most consecutive T20I innings without a duck (84). -
Dhoni holds the record for playing the most T20I innings (76) and scoring the most runs (1,153) before scoring a fifty -
Most dismissals as wicket-keeper in T20Is (87). -
Most catches as wicket-keeper in T20Is (54). -
Most stumpings as wicket-keeper in T20Is (33).
