An impending doom and the scent of nostalgia fills the air around the cricket industry and its fans as their favourite captain is rumoured to leave the sport soon. Mahendra Singh Dhoni, otherwise known as Captain Cool for his fearfully calm attitude, turned 42 last month and as his senior years approach one may wonder, “Will he retire?”. The cricketer remains reticent about this matter and instead amuses himself by throwing around more rumours, further growing the general confusion. Meanwhile let’s take a look at why such an old cricketer, is still begged to continue playing.
World Cup Titles
MS Dhoni led a young and inexperienced team to win the first-ever Twenty-twenty format world cup held in 2007 in South Africa, against India’s formidable rival Pakistan, himself scoring 50 runs off just 29 balls. Captain Cool managed a larger feat bringing home the One- day format World Cup in 2011 after a whopping 28 years. He scored a mammoth score of 91 runs, finishing off in style with a six, followed by a ground-shaking roar from the crowd.
The Helicopter
Dhoni’s trademark, the “Helicopter Shot” is not an easy one, but one with flair to say the least. A full spin of the wrist provides the bat with a whip-like action to fling the ball away with an increased momentum requiring the precision of space and time, hours of practice and most importantly the confidence of Captain Cool. Dhoni has ended matches with this shot on multiple occasions, like the previously mentioned 2011 World Cup finishing shot.
Reflex and Awareness
In the eyes of billions around the world, MS Dhoni is the world’s best captain and wicketkeeper. He holds a record for the fastest stumping, which happened in an unbelievable 0.08 seconds with his lightning-fast reflexes. What makes him best is not only his speed but his accuracy and quick thought process which allows him to hit the stumps from wherever he stands for a successful wicket. In the game, the acronym DRS was used for the “Duckworth Lewis System”, however fans and cricketers now use it more as the “Dhoni Review system”. A culmination of reflexes and a sharp eye, allow the cricketer to see beyond the umpire’s decision, with times when he raised a review before the umpire could state his decision. He will truly go down in the books as an unbeaten legend.
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