MS Dhoni’s popularity in India has surpassed Sachin Tendulkar and Virat Kohli and people ‘really love him’ according to former India legend Sunil Gavaskar.
MS Dhoni has achieved plenty of accolades in his 16-year international career. He helped India become a cricketing superpower when he took over as the captain. He won the ICC World T20 in 2007, the 2011 World Cup and the 2013 ICC Champions Trophy, making him the only captain to achieve the feat. MS Dhoni has also helped Chennai Super Kings to three IPL titles and also two Champions League T20 titles while he has numerous cricketing records as wicketkeeper and captain.
When Dhoni announced his retirement on August 15, 2020, billions of Indians were left heartbroken. The love and admiration for Dhoni probably comes from the fact that he achieved all of this coming from Ranchi, a place that had no cricketing culture. His achievements have made small-town people from India believe that they can achieve big. This is the reason that former India skipper Sunil Gavaskar believes that MS Dhoni is much more loved than Sachin Tendulkar and Virat Kohli In India.
“Since MSD comes from Ranchi, which doesn’t have a cricket culture as such, the whole India loves him. Tendulkar has Mumbai and Kolkata, Kohli has Delhi and Bengaluru but when you talk of Dhoni it’s the whole India,” Gavaskar said before the start of the IPL 2020 opener between Mumbai Indians and Chennai Super Kings in Abu Dhabi.
Record breaker MS Dhoni
MS Dhoni had already created history when he stepped out on the playing field for some competitive cricket after 436 days. When he took the catch of Kieron Pollard off Lungi Ngidi, he became the first wicketkeeper to effect 250 dismissals in Twenty20 cricket. However, when Chennai Super Kings registered a five-wicket win against Mumbai Indians in Abu Dhabi, Dhoni reached a different pedestal altogether. The win against Rohit Sharma’s side was Dhoni’s 100th win for Chennai Super Kings as captain.
MS Dhoni was making a comeback into competitive cricket after 436 days in IPL 2020 clash against Mumbai Indians. It was his first cricket outing ever since the 2019 ICC Cricket World Cup semi-final clash against New Zealand in July. Since that time, MS Dhoni did not play any cricket but he still looked incredibly fit. Before the match, Dhoni had said that he remained fit by going to the gym and doing a lot of running during the lockdown as he looked to come back into peak fitness.
MS Dhoni returned to competitive cricket after 436 days, but he still showed that whenever he steps out on the field he can create a new world record. Armed with a new look and focus after announcing his retirement from international cricket on August 15, MS Dhoni led Chennai Super Kings admirably and during the match against Mumbai Indians, he created a new world record. Chennai Super Kings were already making a fightback in the death overs as they raised their fielding to yet another level, led by Faf du Plessis.
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