India's tour of Australia - December/January 2015

[lion100lion]

Timeline of MS Dhoni's Test career​

December 2, 2005: Makes his Test debut against Sri Lanka in Chennai, in a cyclone-hit match that spans just 146.2 overs. Makes 30 off 54 balls in India's only innings and holds a catch behind the stumps off the sixth ball of Sri Lanka's innings.

December 12, 2005: Scores his first Test fifty (51* off 51 balls) in the second innings at the Feroz Shah Kotla, putting on 104 for the seventh wicket with Yuvraj Singh in a partnership that shoves Sri Lanka out of the match. Holds two catches and effects a stumping.

January 23, 2006: At 281 for 5 in reply to Pakistan's 588, India are in trouble against Shoaib Akhtar. With the follow-on looming, Dhoni wades into Pakistan's bowling attack and biffs 148 off 153 balls to help India post 603, a lead of 15. The Test is drawn.

July 23, 2007: Helps draw India a Test at Lord's, scoring 76 not out off 159 balls while shepherding a sagging tail. Chasing 380, India found themselves at 145 for 5 with over three hours left in the match. Dhoni, contrary to his nature, shuts shot and bats for 203 minutes. His tenth-wicket stand of 19 with No 11 Sreesanth seals a nerve-wracking draw in the series opener against England.

April 11, 2008: Leads in a Test for the first time in Anil Kumble's absence. India beat South Africa inside three days on a rank turner at Kanpur's Green Park.

October 21, 2008: In his second match as Test captain - Kumble is out injured - Dhoni wins his first Man-of-the-Match award for innings of 92 and 68* in a 130-run win in the second Test against Australia in Mohali, which gives them a 1-0 lead.

November 6, 2008: Dhoni takes charge as full-time Test captain with Kumble retired. India beat Australia by 172 runs in Nagpur to win the series 2-0.

December 23, 2008: In his first full Test series as captain, Dhoni leads India to a 1-0 win over England in the aftermath of the horrific Mumbai terror attacks.

April 7, 2009: A drawn third Test in Wellington makes Dhoni the second India captain in 41 years to win a Test series in New Zealand.

December 6, 2009: Following a 2-0 series win over Sri Lanka, India become No 1 in the ICC Test rankings for the first time. Dhoni scores an unbeaten 100 off 154 balls in India's mammoth total of 726 for 9 declared.

February 18, 2010: India just managed to keep their No 1 ranking with an innings win over South Africa at Eden Gardens. Dhoni makes an impression on the series-levelling win with 132 not out off 187 balls in India's 643 for 6.

January 6, 2011: India draw their first Test series on South African soil, under Dhoni.

August 22, 2011: India, who have lost the No 1 ranking during the tough England summer, end the four-Test series 0-4.

November 15, 2011: An unbeaten 144 for Dhoni in India's first innings of 631 for 7 at Eden Gardens, a huge total from where they beat West Indies by an innings and 15 runs.

January 2012: Dhoni gets a one-Test suspension for a slow over-rate during the Perth Test. India have already lost the series 3-0 before the fourth match.

December 17, 2012: A rare embarrassment for Dhoni and India at home as England beat them 2-1 in a four-Test series. It was India's first home Test series loss in 28 years.

February 24, 2013: A first for Dhoni in Tests: a rollicking double-century that takes India from an uncomfortable period and into the lead over Australia on day three in Chennai. Dhoni walks in at the fall of Sachin Tendulkar for 81 after India had scored just 14 runs in the 11 overs and proceeds to dominate a stand of 128 with Virat Kohli before marshalling the lower order to a total of 515 for 8. At stumps, India's lead is 135 with Dhoni on 206 - the highest score by any wicketkeeper-captain and the best by an Indian wicketkeeper. He finishes with 224 and wins his second and final Man-of-the-Match award.

March 5, 2013: Dhoni becomes India's most successful captain. An innings-and-135-run win over Australia in Hyderabad takes him past Sourav Ganguly's record of 21 Test wins. It is the team's second-biggest victory over Australia. Dhoni's win-loss ratio is also the best for those to have led India in more than four Test matches.

March 24, 2013: Oversees India's first Test series whitewash over Australia by 4-0.

December 30, 2013: A third consecutive overseas Test series loss for Dhoni as India do down 1-0 in South Africa.

February 2014: India lose a Test and a series to New Zealand after 12 years. A fourth overseas defeat in succession.

July 21, 2014: India win at Lord's for the first time in 28 years, arguably the most famous Test win under Dhoni. They go up 1-0 in the second Test of the five-match series.

August 17, 2014: A three-day loss at The Oval means India lose to England 3-1 after taking the lead at Lord's - the fifth straight away series loss under Dhoni.

December 30, 2014: Shortly after India lose their sixth consecutive overseas Test series, Dhoni announces his retirement from Test cricket at the MCG.

 

[lion100lion]

Facebook Wall: Reactions to Dhoni’s retirement from Test cricket :P

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[Yuvi.]

I'm mesmerised to know that Sir Ishant Sharma is the new Vice-Captain of the Indian Team. -_-
I think its a future planning by BCCI to get Kohli outta the team and make Sir Ishi the captain.

 

[Epic]

I'm positive Pujara will be the vice-captain.

 

[grkrama]

or vijay

 

[SaiSrini]

I'm positive Pujara will be the vice-captain.

I believe so too. And it would actually be good to have him as the vice captain.

 

[Ohm]

While vice-captain talks are going, you all must know that Ishant Sharma is most experienced in current squad.

 

[Epic]

In India (where we play 2 pacers), he wouldn't even make the starting XI with Bhuvi and Yadav fit.

 

[abhi_jacko]

Ishant was the vice captain, and also the stand-in captain for Kohli in the warm-up games. But yeah, he totally does not deserve this honor

 

[namin96]

While vice-captain talks are going, you all must know that Ishant Sharma is most experienced in current squad.

He certainly doesn't seem like the most experienced cricketer in our squad. He's not going to get wickets if he doesn't pitch the freaking ball up. He needs to start bowling fuller lengths, it's enough of this stupid short of length stuff he keeps bowling. Pitch the ball up and let it swing or seam, does he not watch the Australian bowlers bowl on tv while sitting in the dressing room while we are batting. I do not understand why he doesn't know the basics of bowling, can't Ravi Shastri point that out to him. Following Ishant, Shami and Yadav bowl more short stuff instead of trying to pitch the ball up. The sole reason why we are down 0-2 in this test series even though we have competed bloody hard is because of our bowlers letting us down. I have no doubt that we have a world class batting lineup, the best in the world right now, but our bowling attack is probably the worst in the world right now. I also think we really missed Bhuvi's consistency outside that off stump this series, him and Ashwin could have controlled things much better when things were getting out of hand. I would really love to see us win the last test and I think we have a fair shot at it because Sydney usually spins on the last two days, if we remember 2007 when Kumble was a captain. I also think Ashwin has really improved his bowling, we saw some different things in England as well and he was getting wickets there as well. He bowled really well in the 3rd test here but he was our only good bowler so we struggled. Someone like Bhuvi could have consistently bowled that fuller length outside the off stump.

 

[Yuvi.]

Have a Mighty 2K15!

 

[icyman]

I'm mesmerised to know that Sir Ishant Sharma is the new Vice-Captain of the Indian Team. -_-
I think its a future planning by BCCI to get Kohli outta the team and make Sir Ishi the captain.

I'm positive Pujara will be the vice-captain.

or vijay

The BCCI is in no hurry to announce a full-time Test captain & vice-captain, especially since the next Test assignment is vs SAF at home.
Ishant wont be the deputy, although he did stand in during the warm-up game. Another thing- the BCCI has not had a bowling captain since Bishan Bedi (Kumble- I dont consider him as a bowling captain, cause by the time he took over his batting had started to improve) and they dont seem too comfortable with the idea of having one. In case they do want to give it to a bowler- R Ashwin can be a suitable option.

Cheteswar Pujara is the best option for this role, as I see him more of a Test specialist who will be playing this format only. I have mentioned that there may a surpirse candidate who may captain in the long-run and this could very well to go Pujara considering Kohli's short temper.

Other names worth considering for the deputy's role are those of Vijay & Raina/Rohit(i.e if either of them makes it into the XI).

In a situation wherein Virat takes over the ODI captaincy as well, either Raina or Rohit will be the deputy for him.

 

[lion100lion]

Pujara or Ashwin should be vice-captain.

 

[PokerAce]

Here are some unbelievable and interesting MSD as Captain Stats -

60 The number of Tests in which MS Dhoni captained India, the highest among all Indians, and sixth among all captains. It's also easily the highest for a wicketkeeper - the next best is Bangladesh's Mushfiqur Rahim, with 19 matches as captain.

294 Test dismissals for Dhoni, the fifth highest among all wicketkeepers, and the best for an Indian by far: the next best is Syed Kirmani's 198 dismissals in 88 matches.

27 The number of Tests India won with Dhoni as captain - the next highest for India is Sourav Ganguly with 21. Only six captains won more Tests than Dhoni did. (Not just India, but all nations!!)

21 The number of home Tests India won under Dhoni, which puts him fourth in the all-time list - only Graeme Smith, Ricky Ponting and Steve Waugh captained in more home wins. The next best for India is Mohammad Azharuddin with 13 wins.

9 Number of dismissals Dhoni affected in his last Test (eight catches, one stumping), which is the highest for an Indian wicketkeeper. There are five instances of eight dismissals by an Indian wicketkeeper, of which Dhoni was the protagonist three times. In Test history, there are only four instances of wicketkeepers affecting more than nine dismissals in a Test.

38 The number of stumpings by Dhoni, which is the joint third highest in Test history, along with Kirmani. Only Godfrey Evans (46) and Bert Oldfield (52) have more stumpings.


224 Dhoni's score against Australia in Chennai last year, the third best ever by a wicketkeeper in Tests. Only Andy Flower (232* against India in 2000) and Kumar Sangakkara (230 versus Pakistan in 2002) have made bigger scores. Before Dhoni's double-century, the highest by a wicketkeeper for India was Budhi Kunderan's 192 against England in 1964.

4876 Runs that Dhoni scored in Tests, which is the third best for a wicketkeeper, after Adam Gilchrist (5570) and Mark Boucher (5515). Among Indian wicketkeepers it's easily the best, well clear of Kirmani's 2759 and Farrokh Engineer's 2611. He averaged 38.09, the best among Indian wicketkeepers who played more than three Tests, while his six Test hundreds is three times the next best for India.

3454 Runs scored by Dhoni as Test captain, which is the highest among Indian captains. Sunil Gavaskar is next, with 3449 runs in 47 Tests as captain, while Azharuddin made 2856 runs in 47 matches.

2871 The Test runs Dhoni scored from the No. 7 position, the highest for India at that slot; Kapil Dev is next with an aggregate of 2861. No other Indian batsman has scored more than 800 runs from that position.

15 The number of overseas Tests India lost under Dhoni. Only Stephen Fleming (16 losses from 42 Tests) and Brian Lara (16 losses from 20 Tests) have lost more overseas games as captain. (In good company).

 

[lion100lion]

What an article written by Harsha Bhogle !... Just couldn't resist the temptation to post it here from starsports.com

I don’t think anyone knew Mahendra Singh Dhoni. I don’t think anyone was meant to.

I certainly didn’t know him very well. I had dinner with him once and it was revealing. He had come over to the apartment we were at in Adelaide. My colleague had cooked, I was warming the pre-cooked chapattis and he came over and said he would do it himself. He talked freely. When he had finished dinner, he picked up his plate, walked across to the basin, washed it and placed it upside down on the platform next to it. He volunteered to wash the other plates.

I tried telling him that he must speak to India’s cricket lovers more often. He nodded and smiled. Of course, he didn’t. But I got the feeling that evening that I was talking to someone who was not trapped by the game. We all are, in some ways, because cricket offers us so much. It fills our lives, but that evening, I got the feeling that Dhoni was in it and yet detached. He talked about bikes, about planes, about guns, about wanting to become a sniper! I remember telling my colleague, “I won’t be surprised if he just walks away from the game and never comes back.”

He hasn’t yet because while he has finished with Test cricket, he remains in the form he has been far better at. But he has walked away with no fuss at all. In a nation that is obsessed with being centre-stage, I am not sure he ever sought it. Remember the long-haired new captain who had just won India the first World T20? He had given away his match shirt to someone in the crowd and was walking away quietly. The more suave captain who had won India the World Cup of 2011? Spot him in any of the pictures? He let it be Sachin Tendulkar’s moment. He let it be about Indian cricket. It wasn’t about him and he didn’t force himself into every frame. It was, actually, his evening but he looked at it from afar.

I thought it was cool. The sign of a confident man. He made a statement by not being there. I don’t know if that is cool today but he rose in my eyes. I tell the story because it helps us understand the person and therefore, what he has just done.


What he did in Test cricket was remarkable. He took his rustic game, the firm jab, the slash over point, and he squeezed more out of it than you would have thought possible. An average of 38 is excellent for someone who did as many squats behind the stumps as he did, for someone who had to be in the game always. It is very, very difficult to be a wicket-keeper, a captain and a batsman. He did it for 60 Tests. It was remarkable.

Yes, it wasn’t his favourite format and that isn’t a crime. It is extremely difficult to captain India overseas for it means taking 20 wickets quickly enough. He didn’t have Anil Kumble, no Harbhajan Singh or Zaheer Khan at their peak; no J Srinath, even S Sreesanth and RP Singh had fallen off a cliff. Eventually, every Indian captain overseas is forced to play a waiting game. You can show bluster for a while, you can set attacking fields but the scoreboard always tells the story. If you can’t take 20 wickets, you can’t win and Dhoni never had that. Towards the end, it affected the way he led the side. We all become creatures of our experience. He knew too that it was time to let someone less wounded by overseas defeats to take over.

That is why he liked one-day cricket. It has two logical ends. If you can’t take 10 wickets, you squeeze out 50 overs. In the last couple of years, as bats grew bigger, as end overs hitting became more sophisticated, he struggled there too because his team didn’t take enough wickets early on. But at least you could outscore the opposition over 50 overs. In Test cricket, he couldn’t do that. So India increasingly looked like a side that waited for the opposition to set the game. It was different in India where he had the surfaces that allowed his bowlers to dominate.


As a player too, he changed. As everyone does. The bravado that so defined his early innings died away a bit. Youth inevitably morphs into a responsible man. I think he grew up and grew out of the next generation that, like the waves, always comes faster than you think. His best innings have been in limited overs cricket where he competes in a small short list to be India’s finest cricketer. In Test cricket, he was a contributor, not a leader, though those who saw his double century against Australia in Chennai will savour memories of a genuinely great innings. But those didn’t come often. Maybe we are dissatisfied because we compare him to Adam Gilchrist, an extraordinary batsman who kept wickets. Maybe the image of an outstanding limited overs batsman boosted our expectation of him as a Test match batsman. Still, an average of 38 from number seven is not to be laughed at.

Of course, he will be missed. His calmness, his dignity on the field. But when the time comes to write a similar story when he finishes with limited overs cricket, we will grow far more wistful. There, he is the poker player, in his element with the cards he holds close to his chest. Oh there, he is a legend, almost incomparable.

What Dhoni achieved though, goes way beyond the numbers he produced. He told young Indians in small towns that they could conquer the world. To them he was the beacon, he was the dream that maybe they could achieve too. He showed the way. It is a substantial, and wonderful, thing in life to do.

When he finishes there, I don’t think we will know too much more about him though.

- HARSHA BHOGLE