Mahendra Singh Dhoni etched his name in history books by leading India to the 2011 World Cup triumph. He became the second captain after Kapil Dev to help India lift the coveted trophy. The mega triumph and his iconic match-winning six in the final against Sri Lanka helped him gain the demi-god stature in the country. However, after the World Cup, Dhoni got his share of ups and downs.
The post-World Cup was a bit difficult for Dhoni especially in red-ball cricket as India suffered 0-4 defeats against England and Australia on their soil. The Asian giants were disastrous in both tours in red-ball cricket and were hammered by the hosts.
In the 2012 T20 World Cup, India failed to qualify for the semifinal and were out of the Super 8 stage. Meanwhile, they managed to bounce back as Dhoni inspired the Indian team to another ICC title in 2013 with a historic Champions Trophy victory on English soil.
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India continued to perform well on home soil in both white and red-ball cricket but winning matches in overseas conditions remained a big task for them.
The Men in Blue failed to defend the ODI World Cup title and lost to Australia in the semifinal of the 2015 showpiece event. It was a heartbreaking defeat for India which even brought tears in Dhoni’s eyes.
The wicketkeeper batter led the Indian team to the 2014 T20 World Cup final and the 2016 World Cup semifinal as the ICC title drought kept stretching for them.
Meanwhile, the veteran wicketkeeper announced his retirement from Tests on 30 December 2014 and stepped down as captain of T20Is and ODIs in 2017. He continued playing under Virat Kohli’s captain and helped him a lot in white-ball cricket from behind the stumps.
The 42-year-old probably faced the lowest point of his career in the 2019 World Cup when he got run out in the semifinal against New Zealand. Dhoni scored 50 but failed to get the team over the line. He was run out by Martin Guptill and left the pitch in tears.
It turned out to be his last match in international cricket.
Hiccups in IPL
Post-2011 World Cup triumph, Dhoni guided Chennai Super Kings to three IPL titles, 2023 being the most recent one. However, it was not an easy ride too as CSK were banned for a couple of years after their involvement in match-fixing and Dhoni had to play for Rising Pune Super Giants where things didn’t work out as planned for him. He failed to guide Pune to playoffs in the first season and was sacked as captain for the 2017 season where they lost the final to Mumbai Indians.
However, Dhoni continued to enjoy a massive fan following in IPL, probably the most loved player in the league and he is expected to return to play next season. He announced after guiding CSK to title triumph in 2023 that he would try his best and work on his fitness to make it for next season.
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