It's time World Cricket made Dhoni a word
There are very few lucky players whose names have become a term in the glossary of the sport they played. It takes more than just brilliance to achieve this, and there are many greats across all sports who didn't get this distinction. Simply being good or great or greatest is not enough, as after all Jordaning is not a basketball term, neither is Peled a football term.
To become a sporting term the sportsman needs to have broken a unique barrier, or done something usually rather mundane in a very unique way. However, to be fair there are no real set guidelines for this, it just happens. The most famous example of this in cricket is Mankading, which refers to the act of a bowler running out the non-striker if the non-striker leaves the crease before the ball is delivered.
A non-striker had never been run out this way, before in cricket and Vinoo Mankad was the first person to do so during the second test of India's tour to Australia in 1948. The act came to be referred to as Mankading.
Another example of a sportsman becoming a sporting term is Jean-Marc Bosman. Bosman was a footballer, and he revolutionised the sport of football and more specifically the world of Football transfers.
He filed a case in the European Court of Justice, and in the final ruling (more commonly known as the Bosman Ruling), the European Court ruled that players whose contracts had run out could move to another club, without the requirement of any transfer fee at all. From then on free transfers in football are often referred to as Bosman transfers.
Vinoo Mankad and Bosman were not the greatest players, but they did something unique in their sport that became their identity. Mahendra Singh Dhoni has many achievements in cricket and he is by far one of the greatest finishers the game of cricket has ever seen.
Captain Cool as he is commonly known, has many feathers in his cap. As a captain he has the most complete trophy collection of any captain to have played the game in the past 20 years, and perhaps ever.
As captain MS Dhoni has lifted the mace for being the #1 Test team in the world, he has lifted the World Cup, he has lifted the Champions' Trophy, he has lifted the Asia Cup (both 50 overs and 20 overs edition), and he has won the World T20. There isn't any major international multination trophy in cricket that MS Dhoni has not won as captain.
In addition, he has also led his side to the IPL title and the T20 Champions' League. As a captain there cannot be a more complete trophy collection, it's just not possible, and we have not even taken into account the numerous trilateral and bilateral series, Dhoni has won as captain in both tests and limited overs cricket.
Such a track record of winning trophies is unique, however, MS Dhoni has crafted for himself, an even more, unique identity in the game. That identity is finishing off successful chases with a six. There have been numerous times when, batting first MS Dhoni has hit the last ball of the innings for a six. The most recent instance of this was when Dhoni finished India's innings with a six off Rabada's bowling in the 2nd ODI, during South Africa's tour to India.
However, what is even more exhilarating to watch is successful chases being finished off with a six, and MS Dhoni is the champion of that. There have been a total of 12 instances in limited overs cricket, when the Indian limited overs' skipper has finished a game with a six.
| Format | Opposition | Bowler | Venue | Date |
ODI | West Indies | Jermaine Lawson | Dambulla | 7/31/2005 |
ODI | Zimbabwe | Blessing Mahwire | Harare | 9/4/2005 |
ODI | Sri Lanka | Tillakaratne Dilshan | Jaipur | 10/31/2005 |
ODI | Sri Lanka | Russel Arnold | Pune | 11/3/2005 |
T20I | Australia | Brett Lee | Mumbai | 10/20/2007 |
ODI | Pakistan | Salman Butt | Gwalior | 11/15/2007 |
ODI | Pakistan | Younis Khan | Karachi | 6/26/2008 |
ODI | Sri Lanka | Nuwan Kulasekara | Mumbai | 4/2/2011 |
ODI | Sri Lanka | Shaminda Eranga | Port of Spain | 7/11/2013 |
T20I | Bangladesh | Ziaur Rahman | Dhaka | 3/28/2014 |
ODI | Zimbabwe | Tinashe Panyangara | Auckland | 3/14/2015 |
T20I | Bangladesh | Al-Amin Hossain | Dhaka | 3/6/2016 |
Indian supporters have been so spoilt by Dhoni in this regard, that an Indian victory in a chase does not feel complete until it is sealed by a six from Dhoni. The most famous instance of this is of course when Dhoni helped seal India's victory in the 2011 ICC World Cup.
This brings me back to the original point. MS Dhoni has hit a six off the final ball of the innings so many times, that its time Dhoni was immortalized for his feats, by being made a word, a term in the cricket glossary.
Dhonied (verb) - When a batsman hits a six off the last ball of the innings or finishes off a chase successfully with a six.
For this to happen the fans will have to take up the cause, and spread the word. #makeDhoniaword needs to trend worldwide and reach the commentators, the cricket writers. The millions of MS Dhoni fans across the world need to do this to make it happen, and it needs to happen. Dhoni deserves it. #makeDhoniaword