Ever since MS Dhoni's announcement to retire from international cricket, tributes have been flowing in, but in a moving gesture, bowler Shikha Pandey explained as to how the former skipper's journey makes other believe that hailing from small cities does not matter when you have big dreams.
On Saturday, Dhoni had announced his retirement on Instagram. The wicket-keeper-batsman shared a video and captioned the post, "Thanks a lot for ur love and support throughout. from 1929 hrs consider me as Retired."
"My sister has been really unhappy since the news broke yesterday evening. She is a crazy Dhoni fan. I have always been a huge fan of Dhoni sir, not because he was an amazing captain or a cricketer but because of his journey. He was someone who made me believe that you belonging to a small city doesn't take anything away from the dream you have had and it can not stop you from dreaming for the stars," Shikha Pandey wrote on Instagram.
"I met him for the first time in Oct 2010. This picture is from then. I have never been someone who likes taking pictures or autographs but here, I was happy to take one for my sister. Last year in Jan 2019, I was happily clicking pictures of my teammates posing with him in New Zealand. He is such a humble and kind Human. He shall forever remain a Hero of my family. Go well legend and thank you for the memories," she added.
Originally from Ranchi, Dhoni made his ODI debut in 2004 and changed the face of Indian cricket with his sharp understanding of the sport, astute leadership qualities, and calm demeanour.
He is among the most successful captains in world cricket. It was under his leadership that India lifted the ICC Cricket World Cup in 2011 after having led India to triumph in the ICC World T20 in its maiden edition of the tournament held in 2007 in South Africa.
With India winning the ICC Champions Trophy in 2013 in England, Dhoni became the first and is still the only captain to date to have won all three ICC Trophies.
While his heroics in the limited-overs formats are well documented, it was also under his leadership that India became the number one Test side in 2009 and the team stayed at the top for over 600 days.
He has led India to victory in 21 home Test matches, the most by an Indian captain. Leaving behind a rich legacy that will be difficult to replicate, Dhoni holds the record for most international matches as captain (332).
Unarguably the quickest man behind the wickets, Dhoni has 195 international stumpings, the most by any wicket-keeper. Dhoni played 350 ODIs with his highest score being 183 against Sri Lanka.
Also referred to as 'Captain Cool', Dhoni is known for his calmness and exquisite captaincy on the field. He was also known for his knack of opting for reviews and many have jokingly remarked to change the 'Decision-Review System's' name to 'Dhoni-Review System'.
In December 2014, he announced his retirement from Tests and gave a chance to the likes of Wriddhiman Saha. Dhoni called time on his Test career after playing 90 Tests, managing to score 4,876 runs at an average of 38.09.
Dhoni was slated to return to the cricket field on March 29 during the IPL's opening match between CSK and Mumbai Indians. However, the tournament will now be played in the UAE from September 19 to November 10. He will continue to captain CSK in the IPL 2020.
( With inputs from ANI )
