IPL 2018: MS Dhoni sets world records for most catches and dismissals in T20 cricket
What's the story?
Chennai Super Kings' captain MS Dhoni broke two world records in the game against the Kings XI Punjab on Sunday. He took three catches in the game and thereby set the world records for the most number of catches and dismissals in T20 cricket.
The details
Dhoni-led Chennai Super Kings (CSK) took on Ashwin-led Kings XI Punjab in the last league game of the IPL 2018 season in Pune, in what was a do-or-die situation for Ravichandran Ashwin's men, in an effort to qualify as the fourth and final team for the playoffs. On the other hand, it was a match of no consequence for CSK as they had already cemented their place in the playoffs, second only to Sunrisers Hyderabad.
Dhoni, upon winning the toss, put the away side in to bat first. According to net-run-rate calculations, that resulted in KXIP needing to set a target as high as possible and then having to restrict the Chennai side to 53 runs shorter or more, in order to secure the playoff spot.
The first innings saw Lungisani Ngidi shine for the Men in Yellow as he took four wickets for 10 runs. Ngidi's initial spell was too fiery to handle for both Gayle and Rahul, whom Ngidi sent packing almost immediately, as Punjab fell to 16/3 in less than five overs. Ngidi's effort was one of the best bowling efforts by a CSK player in the history of the tournament. However, there was another landmark in store for a Chennai player and it was none other than skipper MS Dhoni himself, who now has the most catches by any wicketkeeper in all of T20 cricket, overtaking Sri Lanka's Kumara Sangakkara.
He achieved the mark as he took three catches during the Kings XI innings - to dismiss Chris Gayle, Manoj Tiwary, and captain Ravi Ashwin.
In case you didn't know...
MSD now stands at 144 catches in the shortest format, with the legendary Sri Lankan former-captain at 142. Behind him is another active Indian in the form of Dinesh Karthik, who has 139 catches so far and is the wicketkeeper of Kolkata Knight Riders. The top five wicket-keepers to feature in the list, are as follows:
#1 MS Dhoni - 144
#2 Kumara Sangakkara - 142
#3 Dinesh Karthik - 139
#4 Kamran Akmal - 123
#5 Denesh Ramdin - 111
The three catches he took also means that he now has the most dismissals (also including stumpings along with catches) in T20 cricket - 216 - overtaking Pakistan's Kamran Akmal's tally of 215 to break the record. The top five wicket-keepers in the all-time T20 dismissals' list are the same people as above, albeit in a slightly different order:
#1 MS Dhoni - 216
#2 Kamran Akmal - 215
#3 Kumara Sangakkara - 202
#4 Dinesh Karthik - 192
#5 Denesh Ramdin - 155
Apart from the above two, MS Dhoni has several other records that prove he is indeed a legend of the game. Take a look at some of the records he has hoarded so far:
#1 Only captain to win all 3 ICC events (World Cup, Champions Trophy and World T20)
#2 Captained 331 matches across formats - most by any player in history
#3 Has finished an ODI chase with a six, nine times
#4 Most runs in ODIS batting at 6 or lower: 4601 and counting
#5 Only Indian to hit 200 sixes in ODIs
#6 Indian captain with most sixes in ODIs
#7 Highest Individual score by a wicket-keeper in ODIs: 183* against Sri Lanka
#8 The highest number of unbeaten innings in successful run chases in ODIs: 40
#9 Most dismissals by an Indian wicket-keeper across all formats - 737 and counting
#10 Most not outs in ODIs: 73
Author's take
Words are insufficient to describe the skill of MS Dhoni, India's best ever wicket-keeper, one of the best Indian captains and a great batsman. More often than not, we see the sheer genius of MSD, be it as a captain with shrewd decisions that can change the course of a game altogether, be it as a wicket-keeper with lightning-fast moves behind the stumps, or be it as a batsman who can lead the attack straight to enemy camps singlehandedly.
Age seems to be yet another number for this 36-year-old man who is still looking on to continue at the helm of both national duties and his IPL team's duties for a long time. And most certainly, he will do so with all the panache that is so very second-nature to him.