Kolkata: Brabourne Stadium, Mumbai on January 10, had one name written all over it and that was of former Indian captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni whose India A however lost to the visiting English side in a warm-up match. The Ranchi Hurricane did everything possible, he could to take his team home, scoring an exemplary 68 off 40 deliveries, yet to no avail. It was also the last time that Dhoni was leading an Indian team. However, he himself announced at the toss that he will continue to be a captain in the Indian Premier League (IPL) and also skipper his state side Jharkhand.
But Dhoni having given up on captaincy in all formats at the international level has lots of felicitations coming his way. One of the greatest finishers of the game was felicitated by the Cricket Club of India (CCI) before the warm-up tie today. And coming up is another from the Sourav Ganguly-led Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB). Dhoni who made his international debut under Ganguly, will be honoured during the third one-day international against England at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata on January 22.
“Dhoni will be felicitated in a fitting manner and we are planning to have it done by celebrated former India skipper Sunil Gavaskar. However we are yet to finalise the details,” said an official of CAB.
Now on a different note, it was Dhoni who opposed Ganguly’s inclusion into the ODI team because he apparently wanted swifter feet on the field. Relations between the two have reportedly been sour with insiders even claiming that Dhoni was not comfortable in Ganguly’s presence. This took many by surprise because it was the Prince of Calcutta who was instrumental in giving Dhoni a break at the international level and the latter justified it with his performance.
Well, memories of the Nagpur Test against Australia in 2008, which was Ganguly’s last are still etched in our minds when the then skipper Dhoni let Ganguly to lead the team when Indian was cruising towards victory. Now, finally, after ages, we will get to see the two most successful Indian captains sharing the same platform. That is going to be a sight worth cherishing.
Meanwhile, the Jagmohan Dalmiya Memorial lecture has been kept on hold by the CAB because of the unpleasant situations the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) is enduring courtesy the Lodha Committee recommendations.
(With inputs from PTI)