MS Dhoni, one of the finest cricketers of the contemporary era, dominated international cricket for more than ten years. The Ranchi-born talisman made sure that the Men in Blue reached new heights under his leadership in addition to his performance.
Dhoni accomplished things that few others could, from the 2007 World T20 through the 2011 ODI World Cup. He was the only skipper to win all three of the major ICC awards in white-ball cricket, and he still holds that distinction.
He served as the team’s centre of gravity for more than ten years. The guys had complete faith in him. The players of his generation, according to KL Rahul, had such unwavering faith in MS Dhoni that they “would take a bullet for him” without batting an eye.
The level of respect he attracted in the Indian dressing room is evident from the aforementioned assertion.
Dhoni has never shied away from taking risks throughout his entire career. These were the decisions that were first difficult for people to understand, but after they saw the outcome, they realised why they had been made.
But not every risky choice had a successful outcome. There were times when things didn’t go as expected, and Dhoni quickly went from being a hero to a villain as a result.
Here are five incidents which turned Dhoni from a hero to a villain:
Fallout With Jadeja
Jadeja on dhoni
Dhoni made the decision to throw the CSK leadership reins over to all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja prior to the IPL 2022. The southpaw had never led a team during his senior season, so the decision was unexpected.
Ms Dhoni Rift With Jadeja
Few people objected because Dhoni made the decision, which shocked many people. The decision proved to be a catastrophic failure as CSK suffered record losses in the first half of the season and got off to the worst IPL start in history.
After allegedly losing his job, Jadeja’s relationship with the team management apparently deteriorated to the point where he quit the competition in the middle of it and went back home. Many supporters accused Dhoni and the CSK administration of using Jadeja as a scapegoat for the team’s subpar play. Dhoni has become seen negatively by many fans as a result of this aftermath.
Ignoring Raina At IPL 2022 Mega Auction
Dhoni and Suresh Raina were formerly regarded as Indian cricket’s “Ram Lakhan.” Their camaraderie, which had its roots in the Indian squad, became stronger within the locker room at CSK.
For many years, Raina always referred to Dhoni as his mentor and older brother, and the latter felt the same way about the southpaw.
However, their friendship suffered when the left-handed hitter left CSK in the UAE and went back to his home country a few years ago. He reportedly had a significant argument with Dhoni over the hotel room’s lack of a suitable balcony and expressed dissatisfaction with it.
The following season, Raina returned to CSK, but his bond with the team and “Thala” was irreparably damaged. He spent the majority of the season on the sidelines as CSK won the championship.
Despite all of this, the supporters still anticipated him to wear the yellow jersey the next season. However, when the franchise decided to entirely ignore him at the IPL 2022 mega auction, the fans were completely taken aback.
The CSK fans were certain that their team would not let go of one of its best match-winners in this manner whatever the differences. They were all disproven, though.
Even though they had the resources, they chose to ignore Raina during the auction, which didn’t sit well with their followers, and many pointed the finger at Dhoni for the entire event.
England vs India, 2019 World Cup
In Birmingham, England had batted first and put up a huge score (337/7) during a World Cup group match. The visitors were confident about chasing down the target at the midway point since the pitch was flat.
India was still in the game with Rohit Sharma’s magnificent century, but after he left, things became worse. Dhoni, who was assigned to complete the assignment while batting lower in the order, was unbeaten at 42 off 31 balls, but even his ardent admirers were angry with him for his strategy.
Ben Stokes, an all-rounder for England, said that Dhoni and Team India’s strategy in chasing a huge score bothered him and that something was wrong.
The former India skipper was criticised for failing to exert enough effort toward the latter stages of the innings. The fact that Dhoni and his batting partner Kedar Jadhav were more concerned with protecting their wickets than scoring runs infuriated the fans.
Both hitters went undefeated, and as the more seasoned professional, Dhoni had to deal with a lot of criticism after the game because India fell 31 runs short of the objective.
2011: England vs India, 1st Test, Lord’s
Dhoni took a significant risk by bowling himself on the second day of the Lord’s Test in 2011 after renowned pacer Zaheer Khan strained his right hamstring on Day 1 of play.
Dhoni attempted to bowl eight overs in all, but he failed miserably. The wicketkeeper-unorthodox batter’s choice drew harsh criticism from famous allrounder Kapil Dev, who slammed him for having “made a mockery of Test cricket.”
Dev had reportedly said, as quoted by Cricbuzz, “This is not acceptable that on the second day of the Test match, you can’t do this. Dhoni has made a mockery of Test cricket by bowling (himself).”
After the visitors were humiliated by 196 runs, the criticism got worse.
2011-12: CB Series, India vs Sri Lanka
MS Dhoni has been a strong proponent of leading his team to victory and pushing matches as far as they can throughout his whole international career. More often than not, India benefited from this strategy, but there were occasions when it backfired and his team ended up losing the game despite being in a strong position.
During the triangular series involving Sri Lanka, Australia, and India in 2011–12, one such game took place. The Lankan Lions achieved 238/9 in one of the group games. Given the reasonable aim, India appeared to have a good chance of winning, but Dhoni snatched the loss from their hands.
Gautam Gambhir’s tragic runout was caused by Dhoni’s bad calling. The southpaw was dismissed for 91, depriving him of a well-deserving century. The Men in Blue were still in control even after he left since there was no scoreboard pressure.
India needed 59 off of 57 deliveries, but Dhoni adopted a purely defensive posture and prolonged the game until the bitter end. India should have comfortably won the game, but it ended in a stalemate.
