Dhoni has inspired a whole generation and will be sorely missed, says ICC

Tributes continue to pour in for Mahendra Sinmgh Dhoni with the game’s governing body ICC saying that the former India skipper “inspired a whole generation and will be sorely missed.” 

Dhoni announced his retirement from international cricket on Saturday evening. A terse post on his Instagram page read, ‘consider me retired’.

The 39-year-old is the only captain to have won all ICC trophies — T20 World Cup in 2007, ODI World Cup in 2011 and the Champions Trophy in 2013.

“MS Dhoni is one of the all-time greats of the game. The image of his winning shot at the Wankhede Stadium in the 2011 ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup final is etched in the memory of cricket lovers around the world,” said ICC Chief Executive Manu Sawhney.

Sawhney was referring to the six which Dhoni hit off Sri Lanka’s Nuwan Kulasekara to win the ODI World Cup title at home.

“He has inspired a whole generation and will be sorely missed. On behalf of the ICC, I congratulate him for an outstanding cricket career and wish him all the best for the future,” said Sawhney.

In 98 Tests, Dhoni scored 4,876 runs with 256 catches and 38 stumpings, while amassing 10,773 runs with 321 catches and 123 stumpings in 350 ODIs.

He last turned out for India during the semifinals against New Zealand in the ICC ODI World Cup last year.

In T20Is, the 39-year-old aggregated 1617 runs with 57 catches and 34 stumpings. He scored six centuries in Tests and 10 in ODIs.

Dhoni spent 656 days as the top-ranked batsman in the ICC Men’s ODI Player Rankings from 2006 to 2010 and was the ICC ODI Player of the Year in 2008 and 2009.

He was in the ICC ODI Teams of the Year in 2006, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013 and 2014 and in the ICC Test Teams of the Year in 2009, 2010, 2012 and 2013. He won the ICC Spirit of Cricket award in 2011.

Source: Indian Express/PTI