Mahendra Singh Dhoni a Pillar of CSK : Mahendra Singh Dhoni, the name is much loved which resonates in every cricket loving household of India. Dhoni is the only captain of India so far who has bagged both the ICC 20-20 World cup as well as the ICC World cup trophies during his captaincy tenure. Often called by the name “Captain Cool”, he possesses all the qualities of a perfect captain. As a matter of fact, he holds several captaincy records such as the most wins by an Indian captain in Tests, ODIs, and T20Is and most back-to-back wins by an Indian captain in ODIs. He is an attacking a fierce right-handed middle-order batsman and wicket-keeper, and he is widely regarded as one of the greatest finishers in limited-overs cricket. Even as a wicketkeeper, Dhoni’s fame has crossed all boundaries.
Early life phase
image source
Dhoni is not merely a player or a captain, he is an inspiration for the younger generation youth of the country as he has rightly proved that if someone you are passionate about something, then no obstacles can stop the person you from touching his achieving your coveted dreams. He was actually very good at badminton and football as a kid and he was the goalkeeper for his football team. Once he was made the wicketkeeper in a cricket match and that incident was the turning point in his life. The cricket coach recognized his talent and made him interested in cricket. That was the golden beginning. After that, it was only Dhoni’s hard work and dedication which have helped him to reach this peak today where he is today. He belongs to a very humble family and he started his career as a Travelling Ticket Examiner at Kharagpur Railway station.
His ODI career started in 2004-2005 during the Bangladesh tour. Prior to that, he was playing for India A team and his outstanding performance drew the attention of Sourav Ganguly, they then captain of Indian cricket team. He began his test career versus Sri Lanka at Ma Chidambaram Stadium on 2nd December 2005 and his T20 debut was against South Africa on 1st December 2006 at the Wanderers Stadium. Since then, he had proved his competence in every form of cricket.
Dhoni And T20
Dhoni is considered to be one of the best T20 players in the world. He has played overall 98 International T20 matches and his scoring rate is 126.13. His aggregate runs in all 98 matches is 1617. As a captain, he led 72 T20 matches and won 42 of them. The success behind his T20 performance is his calm mind and a strong determination. T20 matches are highly unpredictable and the match can be won even in the last over as well. Dhoni has shown consistency in most of his T20 performances. His biggest achievement was team India’s win in the first T20 world cup in 2007 against Pakistan when he was the captain of the team. In the final, Dhoni himself could not perform well but led his team to victory in a breath-taking manner.
Dhoni And Chennai Super Kings
Mahendra Singh Dhoni has been the powerhouse for Chennai Super Kings since 2008 IPL the first season of IPL. His auction price was 9.5 Crore during the 2008 IPL selection and he was the highest paid player in that League. Reason for his high price it was definitely due to his amazing captaincy skills and strong & determined mindset. He doesn’t succumb to immense pressure and possess the magical quality of fighting back and can convert an almost lost match to a winning one.
Since 2008 till 2019, he has played 177 matches and his total runs accumulated so far is 4048. Under his captaincy, Chennai Super Kings has emerged as IPL champions twice in two consecutive years that is in 2010 and 2011. He took his team till the finals in the years 2008, 2012, 2013 and 2015. For two years, Chennai Super Kings was banned due to some controversy. Dhoni played for Rising Pune Supergiant and during that phase where he again successfully took his team in 2017 to IPL final in 2017. In 2018, Again when he started playing for Chennai Super Kings again and took his team entered IPL to the final in 2018. His consistent track record assures all his fans that he is the best choice for Chennai Super Kings.
Hence he is often considered as the pillar of strength for the team. Even if his individual performance goes bad, he ensures that the entire team plays well in order to win the match. Although Chennai Super Kings have prominent batsmen like Suresh Raina, Shane Watson, etc, the entire team waits for Dhoni to perform well. Victory and defeat are a part of every match. But Dhoni, being a calm minded person, can tackle any adverse match condition and turn it into a favorable one. His overall performance brilliant performance record in the IPL makes fans wait for him to play in every match.
As world cup 2019 is knocking at the door, fans have bigger expectations from IPL this time. Probably this is going to be Dhoni’s last world cup match before he retires from international cricket permanently. Expectations are very high this time that Dhoni will be performing his best for the upcoming IPL matches. In that way, he will keep himself ready for the upcoming world cup. Like team India, Mahendra Singh Dhoni has also become an emotion for young cricket fans. He also inspires millions of youths to pursue their passion even during hard situations.
Dhoni’s past records, success as a T-20 captain along with his humble nature makes him one of the most attractive players of Chennai Super Kings. In the two IPL matches which Dhoni played this year, his highest run is 32. Since this is just the beginning, we hope to receive many more surprises from this amazing Chennai Super King’s player this IPL season. We wish Dhoni all the best and may he justify his position as a pillar in his team. We believe that with Dhoni as a captain and other strong team members, Chennai Super Kings have high chances of winning the IPL this season as well.