3 times a captain won hearts for calling his teammate to receive the trophy ft. MS Dhoni
Whenever a team wins a series or tournament, the captain is invited to collect the trophy at the final presentation ceremony. It has been a tradition for ages, and this is not just limited to cricket. It extends to other team sports as well.
However, on Wednesday (September 27), fans witnessed a rare incident where the captain requested a teammate to take the trophy at the presentation ceremony. After India beat Australia 2-1 in the three-match ODI series, captain Rohit Sharma invited KL Rahul to collect the trophy.
Sharma was rested for the first two ODIs of the series. Rahul led the team in his absence, and the Men in Blue recorded two wins over Australia. Hence, Sharma felt that Rahul deserved to lift the trophy.
This was not the first time a captain asked a teammate to take the trophy. Here's a list of three other such incidents.
#1 Captain MS Dhoni asks Virat Kohli to pose with the trophy after tri-series win in 2013
In 2013, India toured the West Indies for a tri-series also involving Sri Lanka. The hosts was eliminated before the final, while India and Sri Lanka qualified after attaining the top two positions in the points table.
Indian skipper MS Dhoni was injured during that tri-series and missed three matches during the first round of the competition. Virat Kohli stepped up and led the team in Dhoni's absence. Under Kohli's captaincy, the Men in Blue secured a place in the final.
Dhoni returned for the summit clash and played a match-winning knock of 45 runs, even receiving the Player of the Match award for his unbeaten innings. Dhoni was also asked to collect the tri-series trophy, but he insisted that Kohli join him as well and the two Indian superstars posed together with the title.
#2 MS Dhoni invites Ambati Rayudu and Ravindra Jadeja to collect the IPL trophy
MS Dhoni has a habit of handing over the trophies to his teammates. However, he did collect the first four Indian Premier League (IPL) trophies that he won.
Dhoni flipped the script earlier this year, though. The Chennai Super Kings skipper decided to invite Ambati Rayudu and Ravindra Jadeja to the middle to collect the trophy with him after the team's IPL 2023 win.
Rayudu played the last match of his IPL career on that night. Meanwhile, Jadeja's brilliant cameo helped CSK win the match. As a result, Dhoni chose to make a gesture that captured hearts across the cricket community.
#3 Virat Kohli and Ajinkya Rahane pose with the trophy after 2017 Border-Gavaskar Trophy series win
Australia toured India for a four-match Test series in 2017. Virat Kohli was the skipper of the team, but got injured in the third Test with the series scoreline at 1-1.
Ajinkya Rahane led India in Kohli's absence, and the Indian team ended up winning the series decider. At the post-match presentation, both Kohli and Rahane posed with the trophy together, rather than the former doing so alone.
Interestingly, in 2018, Kohli posed with Rohit Sharma after the team defeated South Africa in a three-match T20I series. Sharma captained India in the series decider after Kohli was ruled out with a stiff back.