The greatest eras of Indian cricket come to an end

When India was celebrating her one of the precious days of her country that is 73rd Independence Day then around 07:29 pm a video post came up on Mahendra Singh Dhoni's social media’s Instagram feed which shocked the entire cricket faternity with cricket loving peoples.

Dhoni, 39, made the confirmation through a video on Instagram, its caption reading: “Thanks – Thanks a lot for ur love and support throughout. From 1929 hrs consider me as Retired.” The news may have been unexpected for many across the globe but those who knew him for long knew it was coming.

Mahendra Singh Dhoni bid goodbye to international cricket, leaving fans around the country feeling emotional.

Soon social media was abuzz with his name and #DhoniRetires trending online, and tributes poured in from all quarters remembering some of his greatest contributions to Indian cricket and how he changed the game forever for many cricket enthusiasts. While they continued to rally behind him and demanded a farewell match, business brands too joined in to show their love for Dhoni.

When one of the best cricket captains India has seen retires, the fans’ minds will be filled with that creative face as he climbs the mountain of victories and the strength of his will-filled struggle in many innings full of drama. The captaincy of that genius, who cannot be compared in any way to those who are fascinated by the textbooks of cricket, is one of India’s most successful. The fact that Dhoni is the only captain to have won all three ICC Trophies for India is due to the extraordinary and different decisions he has made during his time at the helm.

When Dhoni scored his highest ODI score against Sri Lanka in 2005 (183 not out), he had completed just one year in the Indian team. After the match, Sri Lankan captain Marvan Attapattu said of Dhoni’s innings: “No matter how you throw, no matter which bowler you bring, it doesn’t change.” Dhoni’s skill in tackling any type of ball has made him one of the best finishers in ODI cricket. Dhoni transformed ODI cricket into one where even the best scores can be achieved with a good ‘finisher’ in the team.

Dhoni, who handled three areas simultaneously: captaincy, batting and wicket-keeping, was instrumental in balancing the team. When India won the World Cup in 2011, the team was not the best in the world. It is noteworthy that a former cricketer observed that despite having a solid batting line-up, Dhoni led the team to a world title with only one or two top bowlers and that it was his unique and decisive decisions that made the best use of the resources available to him.

Besides being a great batsman, Dhoni was also one of the most successful Indian captains to have graced the game. Under his captaincy, India won the 2007 ICC World Twenty20, the 2010 and 2016 Asia Cups, the 2011 ICC Cricket World Cup and the 2013 ICC Champions Trophy. Hailing from Jharkhand, a young Dhoni created a ripple in the cricketing circles of Ranchi for clearing boundaries against some of the best fast bowlers of the district. However, his humble beginnings required him a job to sustain his cricketing pursuits. He joined the Railways Ranji team and started to work as a ticket collector at the Kharagpur railway station to make ends meet.

Dhoni's talent was noticed by BCCI when the cricket body launched country-wide Training Research Development Wing to scout talent from financially backward states. After wearing the Indian cap, Dhoni grabbed the limelight in 2005 after his terrific 183 not out knock against Sri Lanka in Visakhapatnam after that there was no looking back. In his ODI career, Dhoni has amassed 10733 runs averaging more than 50 despite batting between No.5 and 7 for a major portion of his career. In the Test format, Dhoni scored 4876 runs at an average of 38.09 in 90 matches and spearheaded India to more wins (27) than anyone else before him.

Without a shadow of doubt, Dhoni has been India's greated wicket keeper. He has dismissed 444 cricketers with 321 catches and 123 stumps. A master strategist, Dhoni has been known for sharp cricketing acumen and wondrous reading of match situations

The announcement means that Dhoni’s last India game would remain the semifinal of the 2019 ICC Cricket World Cup in which India lost to New Zealand by 18 runs. It was his 350th ODI, in which he scored 50 off 72 balls before being run-out by a bullet throw from Martin Guptill in the deep. Incidentally, Dhoni was run-out in his first ODI as well.

Having retired from Test cricket in December of 2014 with 4876 runs from 90 matches, Dhoni carried on playing ODIs and T20Is. With 10,733 runs, Dhoni is fifth in the list of India’s all-time run-scorers in ODI behind Sachin Tendulkar, Virat Kohli, Sourav Ganguly and Rahul Dravid. His overall Indian numbers are staggering: 538 matches, 17,266 runs, 16 centuries, 108 fifties, 359 sixes, 829 dismissals.

Dhoni’s body wasn’t the same as it was in his prime but still there was the desire to run the last lap hard. He wanted to play T20 World Cup, supposed to be held in Australia later this year before being postponed due to the pandemic.

In a party at his home last winter, Dhoni had told one of his friends that he won’t be playing beyond the 2020 T20 World Cup but will be available for Chennai Super Kings in the Indian Premier League. But the outbreak around the world denied him the chance of an international swansong.

“His body had started to give up and he knew it was not responding the way he wanted it to. Still, he wanted to play the T20 World Cup and then call it officially. With the World Cup not happening this year, he felt it was the right time to call it off and play only IPL,” a player said.

The national selection committee, meanwhile, had already moved on from Dhoni after the 2019 World Cup. Former chairman of the panel, MSK Prasad had made it clear in October that they were now focusing on Rishabh Pant.

He also said that the message had been conveyed to Dhoni.

“I made it very clear post the World Cup that we are moving on. We are giving opportunities to youngsters and see that they establish themselves in the side. With Rishabh Pant doing so well and even Sanju Samson coming into the side [as back-up wicketkeeper], I am sure you must be understanding our thought process,” Prasad had said.

Before making a final decision to call it a day, Dhoni wanted to consult his franchise. It is learnt that he spoke to former BCCI president N Srinivasan, the man behind CSK, after landing in Chennai on Friday. One of Dhoni’s close friends said he will continue his association with the franchise and will be part of the decision-making core in the future.

In a meeting with Indian Army personnel last year, Dhoni was asked to sing a song, and he hummed one by late Mukesh which he relates to. “It’s relevant if you look at my sport, the line which says ‘mein pal do pal ka shayar hoon’. Tomorrow, someone else will come who will play better than me. There will be people who will see better than you. Whether anyone remembers me in future or not, it doesn’t matter,” Dhoni said during the interaction.

And even though one cannot say with certainty what goes on in Dhoni's mind -- whether he plans to hang his boots or wishes to once again see Team India lift an ICC trophy, -- cricket fans not just in India but across the world will hope 'Captain Cool' finishes off his career "in style", just the way he has done on numerous occasions throughout his stellar career.

Dhoni again used the same song on Saturday to describe his journey while making his retirement public.

In his last public appearance in Mumbai, Dhoni had told reporters curious about his future, “January tak mat poochna (Don’t ask till January)”.

When Kapil Dev and Tendulkar retired, fans were saddened that there wouldn’t be another like them anymore. The same is true of Dhoni. Only Dhoni is equal to Dhoni. He has retained the skill to get the most out of limited resources, both in his game and in his captaincy. It is this extraordinary skill that makes Dhoni unique.

In real life too, he stretched his game till the last.