MS Dhoni played a swashbuckling knock of 68 runs against England XI. (Express photo by Kevin DSouza) On Tuesday night, MS Dhoni led Men in Blue for possibly the last time. Even though he was his usual unemotional best while stating he would still maybe lead the Indian Premier League (IPL) side or Jharkhand. But as far as the national colours were concerned, the warmup against England was it as far as Dhoni’s journey as captain was concerned.
Understanding the milestone moment, thousands came in through the gate for the warmup game at the Brabourne Stadium with tickets made free.
In a surprise announcement, offered without any real explanation, MS Dhoni let go of the limited overs captaincy having led the team to two World Cup triumphs in an eventful tenure that spanned nearly a decade, Dhoni captained the Men in Blue for one last time in a warm-up game against England on Tuesday night. However, that last time came in a losing cause with the India A side losing by three wickets to England – five days before the start of the ODI series in Pune.
Dhoni’s day at the Brabourne Stadium had plenty of moments that he would stay in his memory for years to come. The Ranchi born batsman had the eyes of the fans even as he took to the field during practice sessions. Then on the day of the match, he would step up and be greeted with loud chants of ‘Dhoni! Dhoni!’ by capacity crowd.
During his knock of 68 runs from 40 balls, he smacked Chris Woakes for 22 runs in the final over of the inning. In this period, he would see a fan come down from the stands and touch his feet.
With Dhoni letting go of the captaincy, the role to lead the side in all three formats of the game has been handed over to Virat Kohli.
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