BCCI president Sourav Ganguly has paid a glowing tribute to MS Dhoni. The wicketkeeper-batsman, on Saturday, brought down curtains on his illustrious international career, thus ending his 16-year association with Team India. With his decision, the year-long speculation over his international career has ended too.
His future was a major talking point since he took an indefinite sabbatical from the game after last year’s World Cup. Earlier this year, he was dropped from BCCI’s central contract list too. Dhoni had retired from Tests way back in 2014 and had handed over ODI and T20I captaincy to Virat Kohli in January 2017.
He retires from international cricket as one of the most decorated captains and wicketkeeper-batsmen. MS Dhoni-led India to glory in the 2007 T20 World Cup, 2011 ODI World Cup, and the 2013 Champions Trophy. Under him, India also rose to the pinnacle of ICC Test Rankings for the very first time.
With the bat, he scored 10,773 runs at an average of 50.57 in ODIs and is the fifth Indian to surpass the 10,000-run mark in the 50-over format. In T20Is, he played 98 games, scoring 1617 runs at a strike rate of 126.13.
Sourav Ganguly’s tribute to Dhoni:
Soon after MS Dhoni announced his decision, Sourav Ganguly joined the cricketing world in paying tribute to one of the modern-day legends. The former India skipper said that with Dhoni’s retirement, an era has ended. He further lauded his ex-India teammate’s leadership qualities and wished him luck for the next chapter of his life.
“It is the end of an era. What a player he has been for the country & world cricket. His leadership qualities have been something, which will be hard to match, especially in the shorter format of the game,” he said.
“His batting in one-day cricket in his early stages made the world stand up and notice his flair and sheer natural brilliance. Every good thing comes to an end and this has been an absolutely brilliant one.
“He has set the standards for the wicketkeepers to come and make a mark for the country. He will finish with no regrets on the field. An outstanding career; I wish him the best in life,” he added.
Meanwhile, MS Dhoni would be seen in action next month when the IPL takes place. The thirteenth edition of the IPL will be played in UAE and would start on September 19.