One year of MS Dhoni's retirement: 3 things that happened when MSD led India in ODIs for the last time
On August 15, 2020, former captain and Team India legend Mahendra Singh Dhoni announced his decision to retire from international cricket. Dhoni hadn’t played any cricket for India since the heartbreak in the 2019 World Cup semi-final against New Zealand in Manchester.
In inimitable Dhoni style, the Ranchi-born cricketer took to his Instagram account and wrote:
“Thanks a lot for ur love and support throughout. From 1929 hrs consider me as Retired.”
The message was shared with an endearing video that captured the highs and lows of his journey as an Indian cricketer with the iconic song ‘Main pal do pal ka shayar hoon’ playing in the background.
Dhoni, who had retired from Tests in 2014, ended up with 350 ODIs and 98 T20Is in which he scored 10773 and 1617 runs respectively. As captain, he led India to victory in the 2007 T20 World Cup, the 2011 50-over World Cup and the 2013 Champions Trophy.
What happened the last time MS Dhoni led India in an ODI?
MS Dhoni last led India in a One-Day International against Afghanistan in Dubai on September 25, 2018. Dhoni had already relinquished his captaincy by this time, but got an opportunity to lead the side as Rohit Sharma, India’s captain for the series, was rested for this particular game.
As with a number of matches that Dhoni led in, it was quite an interesting contest. Here’s a recap of why the match was significant.
#1 Afghanistan held India to an epic tie
Yes, in an amazing display, Afghanistan tied the Super Four encounter with India. Afghanistan elected to bat first after winning the toss in this match. Opener Mohammad Shahzad made a scintillating hundred to stun India. He smashed 124 off 116 balls, a knock that featured 11 fours and seven sixes.
Mohammad Nabi also chipped in with a crucial 64 off 56 balls. However, the rest of the Afghan batters could not stand up to India’s challenge. As a result, they were restricted to 252 for 8. Ravindra Jadeja (3/46) and Kuldeep Yadav (2/38) were India’s most successful bowlers.
Everything seemed to be going to play for India in the chase as openers KL Rahul (60) and Ambati Rayudu (57) added 110 for the opening wicket. Batting at three, Dinesh Karthik also contributed 44. However, India crumbed in incredible fashion as Dhoni (8), Manish Pandey (8) and Kedar Jadhav (19) all fell cheaply.
It all came down to the last over with one wicket in hand. With the scores tied, Jadeja miscued a pull off Rashid Khan, on the penultimate ball of the match, straight up in the air. The left-hander was caught for 25 and Afghanistan celebrated as if they had won the game.
#2 Deepak Chahar’s ODI debut
Dhoni’s last match as India’s ODI captain marked the debut of pacer Deepak Chahar who, incidentally, plays under MSD for Chennai Super Kings.
Chahar had a forgettable debut as he was tonked rather brutally by Shahzad. The medium-pacer bowled only four overs and ended up conceding 37 runs. He did pick up his maiden wicket, though, when he had Gulbadin Naib caught at deep backward square.
Putting behind the poor ODI debut, the 29-year-old has played a few limited-overs games for India with decent success. While he has only six wickets from five one-dayers, Chahar has a much better record in T20s. He has claimed 20 wickets from 14 games in T20Is including a world record of 6 for 7 against Bangladesh, which featured a hat-trick.
During the recent tour of Sri Lanka, Chahar did a star turn with the bat when he scored an unbeaten 69 in the 2nd ODI in Colombo to lift India to victory.
#3 MS Dhoni’s 200th match as ODI captain
Dhoni’s last match as ODI captain was the 200th time he led India in the format. With it, Dhoni became only the third captain to lead his country in 200 ODIs. Australia’s Ricky Ponting led in 230 ODIs from 2002-2012, while New Zealand's Stephen Fleming was captain in 218 ODIs from 1997-2007.
In the 200 one-dayers that Dhoni led India, he had an amazing record with the bat. He hammered 6641 runs at an average of 53.55, including six hundreds. MSD’s batting record as ODI skipper was slightly better than his overall numbers - he averaged 50.57 from 350 one-dayers.
Dhoni won 110 and lost 74 matches as ODI captain and had a winning percentage of 59.52. He captained in five tied matches and 11 games that produced no results.