00:00 The lightning speed with which he lifts the bails of the wickets.
00:11 The almost immaculate accuracy with which he gorges the trajectory of the ball to take
00:16 a DRS call.
00:17 The equanimity with which he handles 10 situations on the field and the man standing till the
00:23 last to finish off in style.
00:25 There is only one man to get all these jobs done with an equal ease, that is MS Dhoni.
00:40 The abbreviation MSD and jersey number 7 has been stamped in Indian cricket with great
00:45 style.
00:46 The famous six hit by him in the final moments of the match to win the World Cup for India
00:51 became immortal as soon as the shot was hit and the camera followed the ball.
01:02 Very much like Sachin Tendulkar and Rahul Dravid, the man shouldered the responsibility
01:07 of over a billion citizens for a long time.
01:10 India never had a wicket-keeper who would actually bat.
01:14 There was Sabha Karim and Nayan Mungia to some extent but they never were the sort of
01:18 wicket-keepers who could actually play a good inning.
01:21 This void was filled after MSD came in the national side.
01:25 It was only after his arrival that India could also boast of a true and explosive wicket-keeper
01:30 batsman on the lines of Adam Gilchrist and Kumar Sangakara.
01:35 In fact, his arrival also gave India a real wicket-keeper who was agile and too swift
01:40 for the batsmen if they decided to venture out of their creases.
01:44 Another important quality which Dhoni had was the calmness of mind amid the charged
01:49 atmosphere and tense feelings when any match was going down to the wire.
01:54 He was absolutely unflappable.
01:56 Never ever did Captain Kool lost his graceful composure.
02:00 This quality of his even had his arch-rivals in awe of him.
02:08 Cricket has seen captains losing it very often whence the crunch situation came.
02:13 But MS Dhoni was always as calm as a cucumber.
02:17 This often made a difference when the push came to the shove.
02:20 "I would say that I feel equally frustrated.
02:25 I also feel angry at times.
02:27 I feel disappointed.
02:29 But what is important is none of these are constructive.
02:33 I would say I am like everyone else.
02:35 It's just that I control my emotions slightly better than some of the other individuals."
02:43 He also carried forward the tradition that Sourav Ganguly started of supporting young
02:47 and good players.
02:48 His unconditional belief in them has given several lifelines and has made careers of
02:53 several young players who owe their careers to him.
02:57 He has always been at their side whenever they were facing a lean patch.
03:01 Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma are among those who have credited Dhoni with their success.
03:07 "I am sure everyone if you ask them about him, they have special things to say.
03:12 And especially for us who started our careers under him.
03:15 For us that doesn't change.
03:18 The respect will always be there because of the opportunity that he gave us and the faith
03:24 that he showed in us."
03:25 Dhoni is also credited to be a master strategist.
03:29 His unorthodox fielding placements and his decisions at the last moment to hand balls
03:34 to players whom the opponents least expected have often turned the game for India.
03:39 In the final of T20 World Cup in 2007, his decision to hand the last over to Joginder
03:44 Sharma had left everyone baffled.
03:47 But that turned out to be a masterstroke and India won the final and the cup.
03:50 Apart from this, his command over finishing the match was also unparalleled.
04:07 He was known for being one of the best finishers of the game.
04:11 He had exuded the same qualities while playing in IPL and due to these, he became the most
04:16 successful captain in the IPL's history with 104 victories under his name.
04:21 On 15th August 2020, when the nation was celebrating its Independence Day, Mahi took his fans by
04:27 surprise and announced his retirement from all forms of international cricket.
04:32 This was the end of the era of one of the greatest players who played for India.
04:36 Three years after, he hung his boots as an international cricketer.
04:40 The Indian cricket board, in a tribute to his contribution to the sport, has decided
04:44 to retire the number sported by the World Cup-winning captain.
04:48 M.S.
04:49 Thoni's iconic number 7 jersey won't be seen on any other Indian cricketer.
04:54 The only other cricketer bestowed a similar honour is Sachin Tendulkar.
04:58 In 2017, his signature number 10 jersey too was folded away for good.
05:02 -END-
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