People believe in luck and luck believes in Indian one-day and T20 skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni. He has the ability to turn the odds in his favour.
During the third ODI against New Zealand, skipper Dhoni completed 9000 runs in ODIs in his 244th innings. Only five batsmen have reached that milestone in fewer matches.
Dhoni is only the third wicket-keeper batsman, after former Sri Lankan skipper Kumar Sangakkara and Australia’s Adam Gilchrist, who scored over 9,000 ODI runs.
Dhoni is the only batsman in the 9,000 ODI runs club who has average of over 50 runs. Previous best average was Jacques Kallis’ 45.68, when he reached to 9000 runs.
Dhoni has hit 196 sixes. Only West Indian blaster Chris Gayle (229 sixes) has hit more sixes. He also surpassed Sachin Tendulkar’s 195 sixes Indian record.
Dhoni is on the fifth position in all-time list of hitting most sixes, after Shahid Afridi (351), Sanath Jayasuriya (270), Chris Gayle (238) and Brendon McCullum (200).
In cricket, the role of a captain is of immense importance. A good captain is one who uses his bowlers smartly, sets fields appropriately and is able to deal with various conditions and situations.
Dhoni is regarded as ‘Captain Cool’ as he never loses hope and does not surrender till the last moment. He has showed his maturity and confidence in high-pressure situations many a time.
In 1990s, India had good players, but the team never managed to reach the top three. When Sourav Ganguly took over the captaincy, India started performing better but still failed to win any major international tournament.
Under Dhoni’s leadership, India won the first World Twenty20 in South Africa in 2007, a triangular series in Australia in 2007-08, the Compaq Cup in 2009, Asia Cup in Dambulla in 2010, the 50-overs World Cup in India in 2011 and Champions Trophy in 2013.
India also remained the No 1 team in Tests between December 2009 and August 2011 under his captaincy.
Dhoni took over as the skipper in 2007 after India had crashed out of the World Cup in the first round. He recalls the angry reception the players received upon their return home. "It felt as if we had committed a big crime. That actually had a big impact on me and I realised that aggression is the need of the hour," Dhoni revealed in New York ahead of the release of his biopic "MS Dhoni: The Untold Story".
In just six years Dhoni has taken the team India to new heights. He immediately made a difference and in his first major assignment, led India to the World T20 title in South Africa in 2007.
After winning the 2011 World Cup, Dhoni said that he never expected India to win it. When asked why, Dhoni went back to an interview of Tendulkar’s about two weeks before the World Cup in which Tendulkar claimed that not winning the World Cup was the only regret he had in his career. Dhoni’s reasoning was that since no human being gets everything, Tendulkar’s wish would not be fulfilled this time either, but his men made Tendulkar’s dream come true.
Dhoni has an impressive presence out in the middle as a leader, which makes a major impact on India’s performance. He is one of the world’s best finishers in limited overs cricket.
Normally all-rounders are the highest impact players in ODI cricket as their dual skills help them contribute more. But Dhoni contributes in three ways: as wicketkeeper, captain and middle-order batsman.
NOTE: All statistics are updated till the 3rd ODI against New Zealand, October 23, 2016.