Known the be the master strategist, Mahendra Singh Dhoni has managed to outwit just anyone and everyone. Be it decisions on the field or in life, nobody has managed to predict ‘Thala’s’ next move. Hence, there have been many a time when MS Dhoni has shocked the world with his unforeseen decisions.
Here are 6 instances when MS Dhoni Shocked the World
6. Relinquishing limited-overs captaincy
On the 4th of Jan 2017, ahead of a daunting series against England, MS Dhoni made a scathing announcement. Captain cool was no longer captain. Although he had left test captaincy when retiring back in 2014, Dhoni not being captain in the blue jersey was unfathomable. His reason for quitting was to give the next captain adequate time to build a team for the 2019 World Cup.
Dhoni had captained the limited-overs side since 2007. He achieved tremendous success during his reign as captain, winning all three ICC trophies.
5. Marriage to Sakshi
On a random evening in 2010, photos of MS Dhoni in a Sherwani were doing the rounds across various channels. Aged 28, Dhoni had tied the knot with Sakshi Singh Rawat. The couple had been dating for over two years before they finally decided to get married. Having heard the news, fans were absolutely shocked as they had absolutely no idea of this development.
Dhoni first met Sakshi on December 19 2007, when she was just 19-years old. Dhoni had just won the inaugural ICC T20 World Cup and had just started his journey as captain cool. However, Sakshi had no idea who Dhoni was when the couple first met.
4. Returning as CSK captain mid-season
The Chennai Super Kings got off to a horror start to their 2022 season under new captain Ravindra Jadeja. The men in yellow lost six of their first eight games. Midway through the season, captain Jadeja decided to relinquish the captaincy citing that it was affecting his performance.
Jadeja requested Dhoni to take over the reins and cited the larger interest if the franchise, ‘Thala’ accepted. While many celebrated the announcement, few felt that Jadeja was forced to step down at Dhoni’s whim. Fans however went berserk as Captain cool was back again.
3. Retirement from Tests
At the end of December 2014, India had has lost the Border-Gavaskar series to Australia. With one match left to go in the series, an unforeseen headline made the news. ‘MS Dhoni retires from test cricket’.
The entire world was in dismay as after all, Dhoni was just 33-years old. All of a sudden a young Virat Kohli became India’s next test captain at the age of 25.
2. Stepping down as CSK captain
Having won the 2021 edition of the IPL, the Chennai Super Kings came into the 2022 season as Defending champions. However, less than a week before the tournament commenced, Dhoni decided to step down as skipper. The decision sent shockwaves into CSK’s legions of fans as Dhoni was eternally known as the ‘Thala’.
Ravindra Jadeja was handed over the reins just two days prior to the first IPL game. The reason behind the decision was to ensure a smooth transition of powers to the next captain.
1. Retiring from International Cricket
Having been absent from all cricket for over a year, Dhoni called it quits on the 15th of August 2020. With the 2019 World Cup Semi-final being his last international match, Dhoni ended a career spanning 15-years. Dhoni allegedly delayed his retirement to play the 2020 T20 WC. However, with the tournament postponed due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the great man decided to call it quits.
What shocked fans more than Dhoni’s retirement was the way he chose to announce it. “Thanks a lot for ur love and support throughout. From 1929 hrs consider me as Retired”. It was with this caption and a video tribute on his social media handle that MS Dhoni chose to bid goodbye shocking the world yet again.
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