Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s wicketkeeping has always been overshadowed by his extraordinary batting prowess. The most decorated skipper of this cricket-crazy nation, Dhoni has changed the perception of the game with his street-smartness. While his wicketkeeping technique is not very pleasant to the eyes, no one can doubt its effectiveness. In the list of highest dismissals across all three formats, Dhoni is at number three and is only the third stumper to cross the 700-mark. He has left behind the likes of Adam Gilchrist and Mark Boucher is stumping tally and leads the charts with 152 stumpings to his name, far ahead of his contemporaries.
Apart from the catches and stumpings, what makes Dhoni even more special is the fact that every now and then he devises new ways to dismiss the batsmen from behind the wicket. Who can forget his ni-look run of New Zealand batsman Ross Taylor during the recently concluded ODI series? Well, it was not the first time that the talismanic wicketkeeper had pulled off such a trick. He executed a similar dismissal during India’s tour of Bangladesh in 2015.
The Indian team was under immense pressure after losing the first match of the three-match ODI series and were looking down the barrel in the second match too.Batting first, India could score only 200 runs off their 47 overs in a rain-curtailed match. Bangladesh was looking well on course to chase down the total. With Mushfiqur Rahim and Shakib Al Hasan batting, the hosts needed only 48 runs in 18 overs and the writing was on the wall for the visitors. But a moment of brilliance brought the Indian team back into the match. After cutting a Ravindra Jadeja delivery to deep cover, Rahim tried to take a couple of runs. He completed the first one comfortably and was looking all set to complete the second too but then Dhoni showed why is he rated so highly as a wicketkeeper. The Indian skipper, standing in front of the stumps, collected a not so fast throw and deflected it between his legs with his back to the stumps to catch the Bangladeshi batsman short of his crease. However, the heroic was not enough as India went on to lose the match.
Watch the brilliant run out: