India's playing 11 from MS Dhoni's 183* vs Sri Lanka in 2005 - where are they now?
On this day in 2005, MS Dhoni announced his arrival in international cricket by playing an incredible innings of 183 runs against Sri Lanka at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium in Jaipur. It was the third ODI of the seven-match bilateral series between India and Sri Lanka.
The island nation scored 298 runs in the first innings, riding on Kumar Sangakkara's century. In reply, India lost the big wicket of Sachin Tendulkar in the first over itself. New player MS Dhoni came out to bat at number three and played the best ODI innings of his life to help India win by five wickets.
Dhoni smashed 15 fours and 10 sixes in his match-winning knock. 18 years have passed since then, and in this listicle now, we will look at India's playing XI from that game.
Openers - Virender Sehwag and Sachin Tendulkar
The iconic duo of Virender Sehwag and Sachin Tendulkar opened the batting for India in that game. While Tendulkar lost his wicket for just two runs, Sehwag played a decent knock of 39 runs from 37 balls.
Both batters retired from international cricket long back. Sehwag plays for Gujarat Giants in Legends League Cricket now, whereas Tendulkar is the icon of Mumbai Indians in IPL and captain of India Legends in Road Safety World Series.
Middle Order - MS Dhoni (wk), Rahul Dravid (c), Yuvraj Singh, Venugopal Rao, Suresh Raina, Jai Prakash Yadav and Irfan Pathan
India's middle-order was quite inexperienced in that game. Captain Rahul Dravid was the only established player, while youngsters Yuvraj Singh, MS Dhoni, Suresh Raina, Venugopal Rao, Jai Prakash Yadav and Irfan Pathan tried to cement their spots.
MS Dhoni scored 183 runs off 145 balls, but the other middle-order batters could not touch the 30-run mark. Skipper Dravid aggregated 28 runs off 34 balls before handing a catch to Muttiah Muralitharan off his own bowling. Yuvraj lost his stumps to TM Dilshan after a 24-ball 18, while Venugopal was not out on 19 runs off 39 balls.
Jai Prakash Yadav, Suresh Raina and Irfan Pathan did not get an opportunity to bat. Pathan bowled 10 overs in the first innings, conceding 67 runs without taking any wickets. Yadav returned with figures of 1/53 in nine overs.
All the players have retired from international cricket now. MS Dhoni still continues to be the captain of Chennai Super Kings in IPL. Rahul Dravid is the head coach of India, while Yuvraj Singh is the mentor of the New York Strikers in the Abu Dhabi T10 League.
Venugopal Rao, Suresh Raina and Irfan Pathan play in Legends League Cricket now. Pathan and Rao also work as a commentator for Star Sports, while Raina is with JioCinema. Jai Prakash Yadav never played for India after that series. The medium pacer's last Ranji Trophy appearance came for Madhya Pradesh in 2013.
Bowlers - Murali Kartik, Ajit Agarkar and Harbhajan Singh
Ajit Agarkar led the pace attack of India in that game. He was the pick of the bowlers, with figures of 2/62 in 10 overs. Spinners Murali Kartik and Harbhajan Singh remained wicketless.
Agarkar is currently the chief selector of the Indian men's cricket team. Kartik and Singh work as commentators. Singh also plays in foreign T20 leagues.