Prior to the begin of their final Super Four stage game in the ongoing Asia Cup 2018 against Afghanistan at Dubai International Cricket Stadium (Dubai), Indian camp surprised the cricket world as MS Dhoni returns to the international captaincy.
The skipper Rohit Sharma and the vice-captain Shikhar Dhawan both have decided to take rest from this game to be fit in the final match of the tournament that will be played on this Friday (September 25). In the result, MS Dhoni returns to the international captaincy role after 696 days. Returning to this role at the age of 37 years and 80 days, Dhoni becomes India’s oldest ODI captain as the previous record holder was Mohammad Azharuddin who had led the Indian cricket team last time in ODI cricket at the age of 36 years and 124 days.
It is Dhoni’s 200th ODI as captain. With this achievement, Dhoni becomes the third cricketer and first Indian cricketer to lead in 200 or more ODI matches. In his 199 ODI captaincy, India won in 110 ODIs, lost in 74 ODIs, tied in four ODIs and getting no result in 11 ODIs.
Last time, Dhoni led the Indian side in the ODI cricket against New Zealand at Vishakhapatnam on 29 October 2016. He stepped down from the limited-overs captaincy role in January 2017, prior to the home ODI series against England.
Under his captaincy, India won the 2007 ICC World T20, 2011 ICC Cricket World Cup and 2013 ICC Champions Trophy. Dhoni is the only captain in history who won three different ICC trophies.
Coming to the Afghanistan game, India has made a total of five changes in the playing XI. While the pacer Deepak Chahar is making his ODI debut, KL Rahul, Manish Pandey, Khaleel Ahmed and Siddarth Kaul return to the playing XI and the skipper Rohit Sharma, vice-captain Shikhar Dhawan, Jasprit Bumrah, Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Yuzvendra Chahal have been rested in this game.
Playing XI
Afghanistan XI: Mohammad Shahzad (wk), Javed Ahmadi, Rahmat Shah, Asghar Afghan (capt), Hashmatullah Shahidi, Najibullah Zadran, Mohammad Nabi, Rashid Khan, Gulbadin Naib, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Aftab Alam
India XI: KL Rahul, Ambati Rayudu, Dinesh Karthik, MS Dhoni (capt/wk), Manish Pandey, Kedar Jadhav, Ravindra Jadeja, Deepak Chahar, Siddarth Kaul, Kuldeep Yadav, Khaleel Ahmed
Here are some Twitter reactions:
MS Dhoni – 200th ODI as Captain of #TeamIndia 😎#INDvAFG pic.twitter.com/4PWQNzVgiA
— BCCI (@BCCI) September 25, 2018
MS Dhoni leading India today. His 200th ODI match as captain. #INDvAFG #AsiaCup2018
— Sampath Bandarupalli (@SampathStats) September 25, 2018
This is MS Dhoni's 200th ODI as a captain for India.
Most ODIs as a captain:
230 – Ricky Ponting
218 – Stephen Fleming
200 – MS DHONI*#INDvAFG— Umang Pabari (@UPStatsman) September 25, 2018
At the age of 37 years and 80 days, MS Dhoni is India's oldest ODI captain.
Prev: Mohammad Azharuddin (36y 124d) vs New Zealand in CWC 1999. #INDvAFG #AsiaCup2018
— Sampath Bandarupalli (@SampathStats) September 25, 2018
MS Dhoni as Captain:
Oct 2016: 199th ODI
Sep 2018: 200th ODIGoosebump moment when he walked on the field for the toss ❤️💛
Also becomes the first Asian to lead a team for 200 ODI💯🔥#Thala #Mahi #CricketMeriJaan #AsiaCup2018 #INDvAFG #Forever7
— Neel Patel (@NeelPatel189) September 25, 2018
MS Dhoni dons the captaincy hat after a longtime. #INDvAFG pic.twitter.com/DlZv9g5a8k
— BC (@Elon_Muskmelon) September 25, 2018
https://twitter.com/ThisIs_Sandeep/status/1044553297011458048
#INDvAFG
MS Dhoni back as CAPTAIN for a single match in #AsiaCup 😎Retweet who r waiting for this moment again in #WorldCup 😊
— Rayyappan (@BigilFan1) September 25, 2018
https://twitter.com/AsiaCup_U/status/1044553156615639040
MS Dhoni "My Captain" captaining India after 696 days, his 200th ODI as captain #INDvAFG 😍😍#AsiaCup2108 pic.twitter.com/1HUaeJ5kQU
— VsAl (@Iam_vsAl) September 25, 2018
https://twitter.com/prashan23S/status/1044553679821570048
https://twitter.com/Jai_Upadhyay14/status/1044553463697367043
Captaincy To MS Dhoni 😍❤😆 pic.twitter.com/NPBjSQ3dVV
— Abhishek Singh 🇮🇳 (@dhoni_abhishek) September 25, 2018
Decided to skip today's match, but #google notification arrived "Ms Dhoni Captains India.." I am glued to #hotstar now #MSDhoni #indvsafg pic.twitter.com/qESVwvJEtV
— Soumya Darshan Dey (@Soumya_Dey) September 25, 2018
Once again – rivalry apni jagah, MS Dhoni apni jagah. This guy is pure class. I could watch him play indefinitely.#INDvAFG
— Mugambo is unhappy 🙁 (@mugamboOo) September 25, 2018
जंगल में खोफ छाया सुना है एक शेर वापस आया है 😍
No words to express how does it feel to see "Ms Dhoni " as Captain #INDvAFG— Shailesh (@janshailu56_j_) September 25, 2018
#INDvsAFG #AskTheExperts India is playing with more wicket keepers. So is there any chance of Dinesh Karthik doing wicket keeping and MS Dhoni at slip? " – At the cost of India's human hawk eye with perfect calibration behind the stumps? I don't think so…
— Prashant R. Patel (@Prashant5665) September 25, 2018
https://twitter.com/Mansoor40929977/status/1044554436109094913
https://twitter.com/HaramiParindey/status/1044552496310603776
