Happy Birthday MS Dhoni: Fans build 77-feet tall cut-out for ‘Thala’s’ 42nd birthday

Mahendra Singh Dhoni is one of the most celebrated cricketers in India’s history and certainly one of the most beloved and idolised personalities in the country. Dhoni, who is turning 42 this year has got a surprise like no other. In Andhra Pradesh’s Nandigama, Dhoni’s fans have built a 77-feet tall cut-out of the famed cricketer as a show of love and respect on his birthday.

This cut-out is said to be the tallest ever made for any cricketer and shows how much affection Dhoni gets from his fans. The Twitter post about the cut out saw fans showering birthday wishes for the legendary cricketer.

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Known as ‘Captain Cool’, Dhoni is always loved for his calm demeanour. He’s arguably one of the best captains the world has ever seen. He is the only captain in the world who has won all the 3 white-ball ICC trophies – T20 World Cup in 2007, ODI World Cup in 2011 and the Champions Trophy in 2013.

While talking about Dhoni as a batsman, he is arguably one of the best finishers the game has ever witnessed. Scoring more than 10,000 runs in ODIs while batting mostly in the lower order with an outstanding average of 50.23.

Dhoni is adored all over India, especially in Tamil Nadu and has been named ‘Thala’ by them which means leader. This all started when Dhoni took Chennai Super Kings’ captaincy and has led the side to unimaginable success.

MS led the team to the IPL finals in 10 seasons out of 13, a feat no other captain has accomplished. Dhoni also led CSK to their 5th championship this season, tying the record of most championships with Mumbai Indians.

Speculated as probably his last season, IPL 2023 saw fans cheering for Dhoni everywhere. Whenever he came out to bat, no matter if it was CSK’s supporters or the opposing fans, everyone went wild and cheered for the former Indian captain.

In the post-match interview after the finals, Dhoni said, “The easy thing would be to walk away from here, but the harder thing would be working hard for 9 months and try to play another IPL. It would be a gift from me, won’t be easy on the body,” confirming that he has not yet retired and would try and play one more season just for the fans.