5 Times MS Dhoni rescued India from a precarious situation

MS Dhoni– the man whose name became synonymous with hope, belief and trust has called time on his career the way only he could. What Sachin was for the children of the 90s, Dhoni was for the ones who grew up in this millennium and some more. He taught India how to win big. He taught India how to win from improbable situations. He also taught India even if you lose, there’s a new match to be played soon.

His swagger, his smile, his cool and calm demeanour. There was nobody like him. His belief in a young team in 2007 gave the game the IPL. His belief that a team nobody believed in could win a tournament gave Indians a brand they can be proud of today. Dhoni gave India a lot more than victories in cricket matches.

Dhoni also made Indians believe in themselves. He made us understand the importance of being competitive yet humble. He made us believe it’s important to be sincere, not serious. In any situation, if MS Dhoni was right there, ‘Abhi Dhoni Hai voh sambhal lega’ became a common phrase in all households.

In a glittering career, India’s World Cup win will always be the most memorable. Apart from his spectacular innings of 91* in the finals, his ability to bring together legends and youngsters and form a cohesive unit was the key to building a champion team.

And that six. It will be the greatest memory of every Indian cricket fan for the longest time. All cricket fans knew this was coming. And we also feared MS will go away silently as he did from Tests in 2014. And he has, through an Instagram post. The greatest Indian captain and finisher decides to retire from international cricket this way. It could have only been MSD.

In his outstanding career which spanned almost 16 years, he played a number of brilliant innings across formats. But it was the One-Day format which well and truly belonged to MS Dhoni. In 49 innings, he stayed not out while chasing, India lost just 2. Even while batting first, he played several incredible innings.

While innumerable memories rush back from Dhoni’s career, let’s have a look at 5 innings where Dhoni rescued India:

1. 95 off 130 balls vs West Indies, 2009

India had toured West Indies for an ODI series in 2009. They were coming off a good run of form, having lost just 3 ODIs in their last 18 games. While India regulars like Sachin Tendulkar, Virender Sehwag had been rested for the series, India still had a strong team and that was evident in their first match where they scored 340 and won the match by 20 runs. The 2nd ODI was a completely different story altogether.

The conditions were helpful early on for the bowlers, and West Indies took full advantage of that and reduced India to 7-3. However, Yuvraj Singh and MS Dhoni got together and started stitching a partnership together like they had in several matches and it seemed as though the initial hiccup was behind them. Unfortunately, Yuvraj was dismissed with the score at 54 and India collapsed from there to 82/8. Dhoni was the last man standing and came to the rescue.

He wasn’t at his fluent best but on a tricky pitch, he put his head down and dug in and kept accumulating runs while farming the strike. He brought up a record 100-run partnership with RP Singh for the 9th wicket of which the latter had scored only 23.

Dhoni had dragged the innings to the last over, and although he couldn’t get to his 100, the 95 was as good as any other innings of his. India did not end up winning the match, but it was another game which showcased the extraordinary ability of Dhoni to stand up whenever the team required him to.