On This Day in 2004: MS Dhoni makes international debut against Bangladesh in Chattogram – Firstcricket News, Firstpost

When Mahendra Singh Dhoni headed back to the pavilion for a golden duck in his very first international appearance, one could hardly imagine that the long haired boy, coming from a small town, would once bring every major cricketing accolade to the country. On 23 December 2004, Dhoni donned the Indian kit for the first time during an ODI game against Bangladesh in Chattogram. Though there were high expectations from him owing to his domestic numbers, the wicketkeeper-batter only managed to connect a single delivery with his bat.

Under the captaincy of Sourav Ganguly, India was reeling at 180 runs at a loss of 5 wickets when Dhoni came to the crease, joining hands with Mohammad Kaif. The adrenaline rush was quite evident as he went on to attempt a quick single on the first ball. However, he fell just short of the white line when Bangladesh keeper Khaled Mashud rattled the stumps. There was no sign of frustration and Dhoni calmly left the ground.

Though the first chapter ended in disappointment, the rest of the story was phenomenal. It did not take much time for the Ranchi boy to develop himself into one of the greatest finishers history has ever seen. MS Dhoni, arguably the sharpest mind of modern-day sports, bid adieu to international cricket on 15 August 2020.

Even if his entry into the sport was not worth remembering, the farewell certainly was. In his 16 year-long international career, Captain Cool decorated his trophy cabinet with the T20 World Cup (2007), ICC World Cup (2011) and ICC Champions Trophy (2013). He emerged to be the first-ever and only captain to lift all major ICC trophies.

India also achieved some tremendous feats in both white and red-ball cricket during the Dhoni era. He led the Men in Blue to become the world’s No 1 Test side in 2009 and ensured they remained at the top for almost 600 days. Dhoni also recorded 21 Test victories on home soil, the most by any Indian skipper so far.

Looking at his individual tally, the legendary finisher was named the ICC ODI player of the year two consecutive times, in 2008 and 2009. Throughout his illustrated career, Dhoni has played 350 ODIs and 90 Tests and registered 10773 and 4876 runs, respectively. He also has an excellent record in T20Is having scored 1617 runs in 98 games.

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