MS Dhoni
Mahendra Singh Dhoni
Born on July 07, 1981 at Ranchi
Right Handed Batsman
and Right-arm medium bowler
Teams played for Chennai, Asia XI, India, Indians
Mahendra Singh Dhoni's arrival in Indian cricket and his
subsequent rise has been a story of unprecedented success punctuated by only
the occasional blip. Of all the players of the present generation.
Career
Dhoni announced himself on the international stage with an array of almost agricultural shots and a bat that he wielded like an axe. In his fifth match, he smashed 148 off a Pakistan attack that didn't know what hit them. Six months later he went one better, to score a brutal 183 not out against Sri Lanka in an innings that made Sehwag look snail-like. That innings also saw him break Adam Gilchrist's record for the highest score by a wicket-keeper in a One Day International. Dhoni's arrival ended India's long search for a wicket-keeper who could also bat, and he now has the most number of dismissals in ODIs and Tests by an Indian keeper. His growing stature and cool head led to his appointment as India's captain for the inaugural T20 WC, where Dhoni's calm leadership steered India to victory. He then became the ODI captain after Rahul Dravid relinquished the post, and eventually ascended to the full-time Test captaincy once Anil Kumble retired. Leadership saw him change his batting style, as he made a shift from being explosive to being more reliable. With an ODI average that has crossed 50, and a strike rate that remains in the high 80s, the shift has worked for Dhoni. As a leader, his hallmarks have been his ability to not duck behind excuses and his ability to maintain his cool under situations of extreme pressure. Dhoni's biggest triumph was the World cup win of 2011, which India won after 28 years owing to his exemplary batting display in the final and calm and methodical leadership. Post World Cup, when the Indian team struggled to perform to the levels they did in the previous two years, Dhoni became a lone-warrior for the ODI team on many an occasion. In that period, he became the first captain in ODI history to score a century batting at No.7 in 2012, against Pakistan at Chennai when he scored a stunning 113 walking in to the crease when India were 29 for 5. Although his fierce captaincy helped India achieve success and grab the top spot in Test cricket, his 7 back to back Test losses against England and Australia overseas put his image as a Test batsman and captain in question. To add fuel to fire, the 1-2 drubbing India received at home from England in the Test series of 2012 earned him criticism from many former players. In the Border-Gavaskar series of 2013, Dhoni became the first Indian wicket-keeper to hit a double hundred in Tests when he smashed 224 in the first Test at Chennai - the best knock of his career so far. His fluent innings gave India a much needed victory in the first Test of the series earning him the respect he had lost during his lean Test period the previous year. He also became the first Indian wicket-keeper to complete 4000 runs in Test cricket. After a convincing win in the second Test match, he crossed Sourav Ganguly's record of 21 Test wins and became the most successful Test captain for India. Under his captaincy, India became the first team in more than 40 years to whitewash Australia in a Test series. As a captain Dhoni is having a dream run in 2013. In June 2013, Dhoni led India to win their second Champions Trophy title. He also became the first captain in the history to win all three ICC global events. He has led India to 2007 T20 WC Championship win, 2011 ICC World Cup title and ICC Champions Trophy honours. India then won the ODI series against Australia and whitewashed West Indies in Tests in November 2013. In the 3rd ODI against Australia in October 2013, Dhoni became the fastest Indian captain to complete 5000 runs in ODIs after Mohammad Azharuddin (5239) and Sourav Ganguly (5082). The following month, in the second ODI against West Indies at Vizag, Dhoni became the first wicketkeeper-batsman in history to captain his country in 150 One Day Internationals. He is also the second Indian after Mohammad Azharuddin to captain India in 150 matches. Azharuddin holds the Indian record with 174 games as the leader of the side. He also led the side to the finals of the 2014 World T20 in Bangladesh, in which India lost to Sri Lanka. Dhoni also leads Chennai, one of the most successful teams in the history of Indian Premier league, which won back to back IPLs in the years 2010 and 2011 and also the Champions League T20 in the year 2010. |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||
Wednesday 19 November 2014
MS Dhoni
Sachin Tendulkar
Sachin Tendulkar
|
| Born on April 24, 1973 at Bombay (now Mumbai), Maharashtra |
| Right Handed Batsman and Right-arm legbreak bowler |
| Teams played for Mumbai, Mumbai, Asia XI, India, Marylebone Cricket Club |
| There are so many things that Sachin Tendulkar is to so many people, that it is sometimes forgotten that he is first and foremost a batsman of unparalleled ability, dedication and mind. |
 | |||||||
|
|||||||
ICC Rankings
|
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| -- indicates player not in top 100 Rank changes shown are of the last 30 days | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Career
| TEST | v Pakistan, Nov 15, 1989, National Stadium Scorecard |
| Last | v West Indies, 2013-11-14, Wankhede Stadium Scorecard |
| ODI | v Pakistan, Dec 18, 1989, Jinnah Stadium Scorecard |
| Last | v Pakistan, 2012-03-18, Shere Bangla National Stadium Scorecard |
| T20I | v South Africa, Dec 01, 2006, The Wanderers Stadium Scorecard |
| Last | v South Africa, 2006-12-01, The Wanderers Stadium Scorecard |
| IPL | v Chennai, May 14, 2008, Wankhede Stadium Scorecard |
| Last | v Hyderabad, 2013-05-13, Wankhede Stadium Scorecard |
| CL | v H Lions, Sep 10, 2010, The Wanderers Stadium Scorecard |
| Last | v Rajasthan, 2013-10-06, Feroz Shah Kotla Scorecard |
Profile There are so many things that Sachin Tendulkar is to so many people, that it is sometimes forgotten that he is first and foremost a batsman of unparalleled ability, dedication and mind. If he had taken to some other sport in early childhood, his persona would have been invented -- by coaches who want to teach their wards the virtues a tight technique that allows attacking shots, by film-makers who want to create celluloid fantasy by depicting the perfect batsman and superstar, by marketing men who want to appeal to the broadest strata of public imaginable and by cricket fanatics who want to see batting perfection embodied in one person.
Tendulkar has been in the spotlight since before he made his international debut, and has conducted himself in exemplary fashion, even though he has been India's biggest news-worthy item for two decades. His debut in 1989 was a fiery introduction to international cricket, when as a 16 year old he had to face up to the might of Wasim Akram, Imran Khan and Waqar Younis in their backyard.
Since then he has gone on to amass records by the dozens, a few of which are unlikely to be surpassed during his lifetime. He has the most number of runs in Test matches as well as One Day Internationals, and the most number of centuries in both forms as well. His tally of more than 30,000 international runs is not likely to be overtaken by anyone, as is his list of international centuries. He has become the only man in history to get to 100 international centuries, a mind boggling achievement comparable to Don Bradman's career average of 99.94. In his career that has spanned over two decades, he has achieved almost everything as an individual and has also been part of innumerable team successes, including a World Cup win in 2011.
Tendulkar, who did not play many One Dayers since the World Cup triumph, featuring only in the CB series and the Asia Cup, pulled the plug on a glorious career in the 50-over format when he announced his retirement from ODIs on 23 December 2012. His record in ODIs - 463 ODIs, 18,426 runs and 49 centuries - is an unmatchable feat.
More than numbers though, it is what Tendulkar brings to the arena every time he sets foot on the field that touches fans, cutting across boundaries and nationalities. He has been hailed by Sir Donald Bradman as the man most resembling the Don in batting style, and he has lived up to that by scoring runs consistently against all comers and on all surfaces for a time-frame and a number of matches that has been unmatched by anyone in the history of cricket.
Tendulkar has also been the single biggest factor behind the explosion of popularity that cricket enjoys in India which led to the Indian board becoming the richest and most powerful in world cricket. In a country already predisposed to cricket, Tendulkar gave the people a hero they could look upto regardless of age, colour, creed or sect -- and catapulted cricket from a sport to a religion in the subcontinent.
Tendulkar retired from the IPL after Mumbai won the title in 2013 before stepping away completely from the T20 format after Mumbai lifted the CLT20 for a record second time. The Master Blaster announced his retirement from Test cricket on October 10, 2013, a month before a two-Test series against the West Indies which would see him play his historic 200th Test in front of his home crowd in Mumbai. He did not disappoint the fans as he compiled a gritty 74 in his final Test on November 16, 2013. On the same day, the Indian government announced the Bharat Ratna award for him - the highest civilian award given in India. Soon after, he took some time off the game and returned to mentor Mumbai for IPL 2014.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)