5 things that have changed between MS Dhoni's 1st & 200th game as a CSK captain

MS Dhoni is one of the finest captains in cricket history without a shadow of a doubt. His emergence as the captain of India led to many changes within the team. Winning the T20 World Cup straight away and then the 50 over World Cup in 2011 happened under his leadership. These are the milestones of Indian cricket as well as his captaincy.

Since the IPL began in 2008, MS Dhoni has captained every season except 2017. He has played over 200 games in the IPL, as the count stands at 207 at the moment. He’s one of the only two players to have played over 200 games, the other is Rohit Sharma.

But a record that’s really mesmerizing is the fact that he’s played 200 matches as a CSK captain alone. It’s incredible how he started captaining the franchise back in 2008 and still holds the position dearly. A lot has changed between his 1st and 200th game as CSK captain, let’s take a look at-

Things that changed between MS Dhoni’s 1st & 200th game as a CSK skipper

1. Michael Hussey (from 1st CSK batsman to score a century to the batting coach)

Michael Hussey is one of the most likeable cricketers ever. One of the most successful late bloomers, Hussey has achieved a lot in his career. He has done exceedingly well in all the formats of the game.

Interestingly, he was the first CSK batsman to score a century in the IPL and just the second one in the IPL history to do so. It happened in the 2nd ever match in IPL history where he scored a blistering knock of 116 off just 54 balls that led CSK to a mammoth total of 240 runs in 20 overs.

Right now, he’s the batting coach of CSK. It shows how Hussey has evolved in his life from a cricketer to a more of a backstage role. But MS Dhoni is still there as the captain of the team, as he was when Michael Hussey scored his 1st & only century in IPL.

2. Sourav Ganguly (From KKR batsman to the chairman of BCCI)

Sourav Ganguly is one of the biggest reasons behind uplifting Indian cricket from a bad phase to a pretty solid phase. Under his captaincy, a lot of match-winners played and solidified their positions in the Indian team. MS Dhoni was one of those players as well who was backed by Sourav completely.

When the IPL started in 2008, MS Dhoni was the captain of the Indian team while Sourav Ganguly was heading towards the end of his career. Dada had a pretty solid stint in the IPL and he also represented India one last time in 2008 in the Test series against Australia. He ended his international career under the captaincy of MS Dhoni.

Sourav Ganguly became the chairman of BCCI in the late half of 2019. There have been a lot of comparisons drawn between Sourav and MS Dhoni over the years. When it comes to IPL, Sourav has gone from captaining the KKR franchise to controlling the entire setup of IPL while MS Dhoni has his position intact as the captain of CSK.

3. Stephen Fleming (From CSK batsman to CSK head coach)

Stephen Fleming has to be the most successful New Zealand captain ever. Having played over 100 Test matches and close to 300 ODI games, he was the New Zealand captain for a very long time. One of the main reasons behind his long captaincy stint was that he was very tactical with his decisions, a quality strategist.

He did play in the initial season of IPL as a CSK batsman but he had a very forgettable time there. He played just ten games and scored about 196 runs at an average of 21.78. Although he didn’t make it to the playing XI often, he was always there in the decisions making of CSK as a part of the leadership group.

One year later in 2009, he became the head coach of the franchise. It’s incredible that he has kept the position of the head coach even after 12 years. This shows how much CSK have backed its core as MSD and Stephen Fleming have gotten along really well which has led to the immense success of the franchise.

4. Delhi Daredevils to Delhi Capitals

When MSD had first started in the IPL, Virender Sehwag was the captain of Delhi Daredevils. In the initial few seasons, Delhi was a very strong side. They topped the group stage a couple of times under the leadership of Viru and then Gautam Gambhir.

Things quickly changed for them after the 2010 edition of IPL. They were at the bottom of the table in the 2011 edition and topped it in 2012. It all went flat for Delhi Daredevils up until the 2018 edition.

They changed their name to Delhi Capitals before the 2019 edition and labeled themselves as “Nayi Dilli”. The change of the name, the logo, the tagline also changed the fortunes of the team as DC qualified into the playoffs two years in a row. As far as the 2021 edition of IPL is concerned, Delhi is one of the favourites to lift the trophy.

5. Virat Kohli went from being U19 captain to India captain in all the formats

Virat Kohli had just burst into the scene back in 2008. He had led India to the U19 World Cup triumph and all eyes were on him heading into the inaugural edition of IPL. He had a very average season with just 165 runs to his name at an average of 15 and a strike rate of 105.

But in a couple of years, he completely transformed himself into a different batsman and it showed over the years in the IPL. His first really successful IPL season was in 2011, having scored 557 runs at an average of 46. He kept on having an amazing time in international cricket as well as IPL, becoming the captain of the team in both places.

In 2016, he scored 973 runs in a single season at an average of 81 and an SR of 152, which is still unmatched and unprecedented. He’s been captaining RCB for a long time and RCB fans are waiting for the glory to come their way. It’s fitting how Virat started under MSD and then took over the captaincy from him, starting a new era in Indian as well as international cricket!