5 worst incidents that happened in the celebrated career of MS Dhoni

Former legendary Indian skipper and wicketkeeper-batter MS Dhoni earned almost all the achievements in his cricket career. He won all the major international titles for India under his own leadership including T20 World Cup 2007, World Cup 2011, and Champions Trophy 2013. There are a lot of things that Dhoni can cherish while looking back on his illustrious career.

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But there have been also instances when one of the all-time great skippers and captain cool had to go through some worst of the instances. The cricket experts and fans questioned Dhoni’s intention of playing during the 2019 World Cup when India lost to England in the Group stage match. Apart from that, they also questioned him about the exit of team India from the World Cup.

Discussing such sort of incident with MS Dhoni, we’ll have a look at five instances when India’s most celebrated captain had to go through tough times.

2012, CB Series in Australia

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The Indian team was in action in the Commonwealth Bank Series in Australia. It was a tri-series played between India, Australia, and Sri Lanka. India had already lost the four-match Test series against Australia with a miserable score line of 0-4 before the start of this tri-series. The then captain Dhoni went on to meet Gautam Gambhir, Virender Sehwag, and Sachin Tendulkar. They all were in age 33 to 39.

The sluggishness in fielding from these three veterans was under the scrutiny of experts and fans as well. Dhoni came up with a decision, considering the issues with fielding, he can’t afford to play all three of them simultaneously in the team. But they participated and Gambhir ended up the series as the second leading run-scorer for the Indian team.

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Following this row, Dhoni was on the receiving end of criticism from all corners including media, cricket experts, and fans. This incident also extended rumors that Dhoni had a serious rift with the senior players.

Indian T20 League 2013, Spot-Fixing Scandal

9 years back, it was the year 2013 when the Indian T20 League witnessed one of the darkest phases in its history. The black spot of spot-fixing was got attached to the name of the league. Players of the Rajasthan franchise were found guilty of being involved in the spot-fixing. It included the names of S Sreesanth, Ajit Chandila, and Ankeet Chavan. Delhi police detained all of these three.

Apart from that, Mumbai police went on to arrest Chennai’s team principal Gurunath Meiyappan. He was suspected of gambling, conspiracy, and cheating, all this was the beginning of the end of the things for teams of Chennai and Rajasthan.

Captain of Chennai, MS Dhoni also faced some allegations and accusations of being involved in all this. But the accusations against him were never confirmed. Although, due to all this Supreme Court’s appointed RM Lodha Committee suspended Chennai’s team from the league for the next two years.

Conflict of Interest with Rhiti Sports

The board of control for cricket in India went on to launch an investigation on MS Dhoni’s alleged involvement with Rhiti Sports Management back in the year 2015. The 40-year-old was alleged to have 15% ownership in that particular business. It was a management business that used to look at the interests of world champion skipper Dhoni and other players of Chennai’s team including the likes of Suresh Raina and Ravindra Jadeja.

Some of the former cricketers criticized Dhoni for having ownership in the business. Then, the corporation had to come into the picture to clear all this, the corporation confirmed that Dhoni owned the business in previous times but it was ended at the time of disagreement.

ICC World Cup 2007 - Aftermath

India faced a drastic defeat and exit from the 2007 international ODI World Cup. The finalist team of the 2003 World Cup lost to Bangladesh in a major upset during the Group Stage of the World Cup. Earlier, they also lost to the Sri Lanka team which resulted in the elimination of the team from the World Cup only from the Group Stage.

Outrageous fans were angst and they destroyed the houses of the Indian cricketers and burnt their effigies on the roads. JMM political activists pelted stones on Dhoni’s home despite knowing that he was not the only reason for India’s exit from the world cup. Masses from all the cities of the nation came to the streets to protest, which is still remembered as one of the darkest days in Indian cricket.

Criticism After World Cup 2019

Dhoni was also at the receiving end of criticism almost in the ending years of his career. Fans and experts criticized him for not delivering well enough in ODI cricket. Notably, the Indian side was in action during the 2019 International World Cup. Dhoni failed to deliver up to the expectations of the team and fans throughout the entire tournament.

Some of the Indian fans went to the extent of insulting Dhoni publicly on social media following a shocking loss in the semi-finals against New Zealand. Fans and media speculated that Dhoni’s career had ended. Although, he hadn’t announced his retirement himself.

Former skipper fought with senior all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja against New Zealand in the semi-final. They both made a partnership of close to 100 runs. But the Indian team fell short of a few runs and got eliminated from the World Cup.