MS Dhoni: A Messiah Who Revolutionized Indian Cricket

Dhoni’s stats are just sizzlers in the vast menu that the former captain put out on display on the international stage -- as a player...

- Renin Wilben

10,773 runs in 350 ODIs, 4876 in 90 Tests, 1617 runs in T20Is, 829 dismissals as wicket-keeper. If one goes by numbers alone, the just-retired MS Dhoni has made a gigantic contribution to Indian cricket. Add it to his crowning glory as a skipper -- two World Cups, and a Champions Trophy triumph. However, Dhoni’s stats are just sizzlers in the vast menu that the former captain put out on display on the international stage -- as a player, as a leader, and as an individual as a whole. Dhoni’s presence in the Indian team over the last decade and a half has transformed the team’s fortunes like few before him have done.

HERALDING A NEW ERA IN INDIAN CRICKET

March 23, 2007, at Port-of-Spain, was one of the lowest points of Indian cricket. Abject surrender to Sri Lanka in the league game dumped India out of the 2007 World Cup. Dhoni, himself, had a forgettable encounter, trapped lbw by the guile of Muttiah Muralitharan's first ball. However, it was under the same Dhoni that India turned things around a few months later, as a young team lifted the inaugural T20 World Cup in South Africa. It marked a completely fresh chapter in Indian cricket and was the beginning of the Dhoni era in no uncertain terms.

His presence in the the last decade and a half has trans formed the team’s fortunes.