15 of MS Dhoni – Recalling his five best ODI knocks of all time
December 23 each year is a special day for fans of Indian cricket and more so, for the fans of Mahendra Singh Dhoni. The former India captain and one of the best finishers in the world in his prime, MS Dhoni made his international debut against Bangladesh in Chittagong on December 23, 2004. Although he scored a golden duck on his debut, and managed only 19 runs across three matches on that tour, he came back stronger in the home series against Pakistan in 2005, the one in which he smashed a record 123-ball 148. It was from that innings when the golden era of MS Dhoni began. 15 years down the line, Dhoni does not seem to have enough fuel left in his tank, so it seems from the sabbatical that he has taken after the ODI World Cup 2019. While it is still been debated upon as to whether Dhoni's time is up, some still argue that the former skipper should be a part of India's World T20 plans. As ‘captain cool’ completes 15 years in international cricket today, here is recalling his top five ODI knocks of all time.
#5 148 against Pakistan, 2005
Dhoni’s maiden ODI century came against Pakistan at Visakhapatnam in 2005. India were playing the second of the six-match ODI series against the arch-rivals. After Sachin Tendulkar was out for a paltry score, Dhoni came on to bat alongside Virender Sehwag. The duo put on a partnership which did not last too long as Sehwag and Ganguly were dismissed in quick succession. Dhoni then stitched another partnership with Rahul Dravid and finished with 148 runs off 123 balls. On the back of that splendid knock, India made 356 in 50 overs, in reply to which fell short of 58 runs. The young boy from Ranchi was named Man of the Match.