Indian cricket won't be same without Dhoni. Thank you, Captain Cool

It is definitely the end of an era. Mahendra Singh Dhoni, the blue-eyed boy of the “Men in Blue”, has informed the BCCI of his decision to step down as the One Day International and T20 International captain of the Indian Cricket Team.

"On the behalf of every Indian cricket fan and the BCCI, I would like to thank MS Dhoni for his outstanding contribution as the captain of the Indian team across all formats. Under his leadership, Indian team has touched new heights and his achievements will remain etched forever in the annals of Indian cricket,” said Rahul Johri, the CEO of the BCCI.

Spotted for his talent as a Ranji player in 1999, the right-handed batsman from Ranchi, Jharkhand made his ODI debut in 2004 against Bangladesh. Since then, Dhoni career has known no bounds.

Arguably the only cricketer to have reached the same space in the Indian cricketing sphere as Sachin Tendulkar, Mahendra Singh Dhoni has been nothing but an exemplary sportsman, a terrific wicketkeeper and a dependable captain, and has proved beyond doubt in is 12-year-long international career that he has, and always will be, a national treasure.

Debut

Mahendra Singh Dhoni, who was in his school cricket team, started his professional cricket career in 1998, when he was selected to play for the Central Coal Fields Limited (CCL) team in Bihar. Dhoni’s Ranji career began in the 1999–2000 season with a smash, when the 18-year-old made a half century in his debut match, scoring 68 against Assam. Following some decent ODI performances in 2005, Dhoni replaced Dinesh Karthik in December as the Indian Test wicket-keeper.

Milestones

Dhoni became the first Indian to hit 10 sixes in an ODI. He holds the record for highest runs scored by a wicketkeeper (183 not out), which was previously held by Adam Gilchrist. On October 23, 2016, Dhoni entered the 9000 club with an 80 run innings against New Zealand.

Captaincy

Dhoni’s captaincy of the Indian team has been one of the most remarkable in the history of Indian cricket, something that is often compared to that of Saurav Ganguly's, particularly for its aggression and its string of victories. Under his captaincy, India reached the highest test score of 726 for 9. Dhoni announced his retirement from International Test Cricket in December 2014 following the India-Australia Test in Melbourne. The reason he cited was strain from playing in all formats.

Dhoni was captain of the now disbanded Chennai Super Kings Team in the Indian Premier League (IPL). Under his captaincy, the team has won two IPL titles and the Champions League Twenty20 in 2010 as well, and the controversies surrounding CSK never seemed to leave any taint on him.

World Cup

Dhoni played his first ODI World Cup in 2007 at the Caribbean. Under his captaincy, India won the 2011 World Cup against Sri Lanka. With that Dhoni became the second Indian captain to have won India a World Cup, after Kapil Dev.

Dhoni became the first captain to win India the ICC World Twenty 20 trophy played in South Africa in September 2007.

Bollywood biopic

The cricketer, apart from an illustrious career in cricket, and several lucrative deals as the brand ambassador of various products and services, also has a biopic to his name. The movie MS Dhoni: The Untold Story, released in 2016, stars Sushant Singh Rajput in the titular role and did decently in the box office. The movie has also received critical acclaim.

Controversies

In December 2009 he was suspended for two ODI matches against Sri Lanka by ICC match referee Jeff Crowe as India was three overs short of the specified rate.

In 2013, after the Supreme Court appointed Justice Mudgal Committee indicted Chennai Super Kings principal Gurunath Meiyappan of betting during IPL, ex-IPL commisioner Lalit Modi on Monday accused CSK skipper MS Dhoni of being involved in the cover-up of the incidents.

Dhoni last year sent a legal notice to Sun Star, a Hindi news paper for accusing him of match-fixing during a Test match in India’s 2014 tour of England. Dhoni’s lawyers issued a notice to file a Rs 100 crore lawsuit unless an apology was issued.

A court in Andhra Pradesh, in 2014, issued an arrest warrant against Dhoni for allegedly hurting the religious sentiments of Hindus, by appearing on the cover of Business Today, in the avatar of the Hindu god Vishnu with a caption "God of Big Deals" and holding products of several companies including a shoe in his hand.

Also read - Why MS Dhoni is the world's greatest cricketer