5 major achievements for MS Dhoni as Indian captain: MS Dhoni stepped down from ODI and T20 captaincy on December 4 night. Under his captaincy, India has won many trophies which have put the Indian team on the global stage. He was one of the greatest ODI captains that the world has seen. His achievements are just superb which other captains could not deliver the goods. Here we look at the 5 major achievements for MS Dhoni as Indian captain.
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Winning the first World T20 in South Africa
MS Dhoni led a young team India in the first World T20 that took place in South Africa. The tournament was held in 2007. With a young team, MS Dhoni showed faith in the squad by beating all top teams like Pakistan, Scotland, South Africa and England. In the semi finals, Yuvraj Singh played a match winning knock to help India reach the finals with Pakistan. The final was a mouthwatering affair. MS Dhoni backed his ability and gave the final over to Joginder Sharma. The Indian team won the match by 5 runs and man from Jharkhand brought glory to the country on the global stage.
Second most ODI wins as a captain
MS Dhoni has become the world second best captain with most wins in ODI cricket as a captain. He has led India in 199 One day internationals winning 110 and losing 74. MS Dhoni has done wonders for Indian cricket winning the tri series in 2008 involving Sri Lanka and Australia, winning in New Zealand and winning in Pakistan. MS Dhoni also ended his captaincy carrier behind Ricky Pointing who led Australia to many great wins as an ODI captain. In his ODI captaincy carrier he has won 18 bilateral ODI series. Also as a wicketkeeper he is the third most successful wicketkeeper in international cricket.
Led India to number rank 1 in test matches
Under his captaincy, the Indian cricket team became the number 1 ranked team in test matches. He had taken the test captaincy in 2008, MS Dhoni won the test series against New Zealand in New Zealand and West Indies. He also led India to win Border Gavaskar series in 2008. There were many great players during his captaincy that involved Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly, and VVS Laxman. MS Dhoni team remained the number ranked team till 2011 before losing away tours. He retired from test matches in the year 2014.
Winning the 50 over World Cup at home soil
After the 1983 World Cup win by Kapil Dev, India, Sri Lanka, and Bangladesh hosted the 2011 World Cup. The Indian team played excellent cricket in the league stage finishing second. They performed brilliantly well beating Australia in the quarter finals. India took on Pakistan in the semi finals which they won easily. MS Dhoni produced an excellent knock in the finals chasing 275 against Sri Lanka on April 3 2011. He remained not out on 91 and helped India to register an historic world cup win after 28 years at home soil winning it in Mumbai.
Winning the Champions Trophy in 2013
The Champions Trophy 2013 was played in England between top 8 teams in the world. From the start the Indian team played dominating cricket. They won all 3 matches in the league stage. In the semi-finals they trashed Sri Lanka. The finals between India and England were curtailed due to rain to 20 overs. India had scored a decent total. When things were looking tense, MS Dhoni gave the bowl to Ishant Sharma who was expensive that match. He picked 2 wickets in that over changing the course of the match. He became second captain to win all three ICC trophies behind Ricky Pointing.