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MS Dhoni celebrates 8th anniversary of captaincy debut

Officially, MS Dhoni made his captaincy debut for India on September 2007 in ICC World T20.

MS Dhoni  © Getty Images
MS Dhoni is regarded India’s one of the most successful limited-overs captain © Getty Images

MS Dhoni, on Monday completed eight years as a captain of India. Officially, he made his captaincy debut for India on this day back in 2007. His first captaincy assignment was in the inaugural edition of  ICC World T20, in South Africa. India were supposed to play Scotland at Durban, but the match got washed out due to rain. In the next match, India beat Pakistan thanks to a bowl out, and the rest is history as India went on to win the tournament. In limited-overs’ format, as a captain, Dhoni is regarded as India’s best by a long margin. His major achievements as captain are the triumphs in ICC Cricket World Cup 2011, ICC World T20 2007, and ICC Champions Trophy 2013. Apart from these world events, Dhoni’s ‘Team India’ won the CB series in Australia in 2007-08, Asia Cup 2010, away bilateral series against England, New Zealand, West Indies, and Sri Lanka. Besides these, under him, India reached the semi-finals of ICC Cricket World Cup 2015, final of ICC World T20 2014. READ: MS Dhoni’s call of duty: The tough life of an international cricketer

Though his lists of achievements are quite huge in coloured clothing, in the longer formats of the game Dhoni’s captaincy were criticised a few times. As the Test captain, he had to experience humiliating 0-4 losses against England and Australia in tours in 2011-12. In the 2012-13 season, India lost to England at home as well. However, they came back strongly by brainwashing the Aussies 4-0 in the next series. Dhoni, as a Test captain, has done well in patches. The series win in West Indies in 2011 or the 1-1 against a strong South African side in their own backyard in 2010 were some glorious moments for him. READ: MS Dhoni – 10 most memorable sixes of his amazing career

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