Cricket is the cult of all Indians, and everyone adores the game. Many cricketers have graced the blue jersey, but some of them have made a special name and mark for themselves in the history of cricket. These players have made several records through their outstanding performances on the field and are remembered for their contributions to the game. Virat Kohli and MS Dhoni are two such players who have taken the game and the Indian cricket team to the next level. The national cricket team of India attained several milestones under the captaincy of these two cricket Mozarts. Let us discuss both these players and understand their journey and performances in detail through stats.
MS Dhoni
Mahendra Singh Dhoni, commonly called MS Dhoni is an Indian cricketer who is best known for leading the Indian team in the ODI (One Day International) format of cricket. The historic win is still praised and remembered by many. The right-handed batsman made his ODI debut for the Indian Cricket team on 23rd-December-2004 against Bangladesh. In a very short span, he became the captain of the Indian cricket team, i.e., in 2007, and led the men in blue till 2016. Making his Test Cricket debut on 2nd-December-2005, against Sri Lanka, Dhoni led the Test Cricket team from 2008 to 2014. Known for his aggressive playing style, he is regarded as one of the best “finishers” in the limited over game.
Dhoni is often revered as one of the best captains that the Indian Cricket team has had in the years so far as he holds numerous records in cricket under his captaincy. In fact, it’s quite praiseworthy that under his captaincy, the Indian Cricket team went on to hold the No.1 position in Test cricket. He was also the captain of the National cricket team on Indian when it won the 2007 ICC Twenty20 World Cup and 2013 ICC Champions trophy. Now, that’s really impressive. Having scored more than 10,000 runs, MS Dhoni is one of the highest ODI run-scorers.
It’s not only his international performances that brought him fame and the respect that people have for him; his contributions to the teams that he had played for in the Indian Premier League are also applaudable. Chennai Super Kings won the coveted IPL trophy twice; 2010 and 2011, under his captaincy. Let us look at the statistics of Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s cricketing career.
Batting Career Summary
| M | Inn | N | Runs | HS | Avg | BF | SR | 100 | 200 | 50 | 4s | 6s | |
| ODI | 350 | 297 | 84 | 10773 | 183 | 50.58 | 12303 | 87.56 | 10 | 0 | 73 | 826 | 229 |
| IPL | 211 | 186 | 70 | 4669 | 84 | 40.25 | 3417 | 136.64 | 0 | 0 | 23 | 317 | 217 |
| Test | 90 | 144 | 16 | 4876 | 224 | 38.09 | 8248 | 59.12 | 6 | 1 | 33 | 544 | 78 |
| T20I | 98 | 85 | 42 | 1617 | 56 | 37.6 | 1282 | 126.13 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 116 | 52 |
Bowling Career Summary
| M | Inn | B | Runs | Wkts | BBI | BBM | Econ | Avg | SR | 5W | 10W | |
| ODI | 350 | 2 | 36 | 31 | 1 | 1/14 | 1/14 | 5.17 | 31.0 | 36.0 | 0 | 0 |
| IPL | 211 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| Test | 90 | 7 | 96 | 67 | 0 | 0/1 | 0/1 | 4.19 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 |
| T20I | 98 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
Virat Kohli
The name Virat Kohli has become synonymous with modern-day cricket, and we all agree to that. Virat Kohli is an Indian International cricketer who currently captains the Indian cricket team. After MS Dhoni, the team required a new captain who had the same or more potential and could retain the position of the Indian cricket team and take it ahead on the road of success. Virat Kohli turned out to be a perfect fit, and we all can see the results now. Kohli is considered one of the most aggressive batsmen and counted among the best ones in the world. He is also the fastest Indian cricket to have scored 1000 runs in the ODI (One Day International) format of cricket. Kohli is now married to one of the top Indian actresses Anushka Sharma whom he dated for a couple of years before marriage.
As far as IPL is concerned, the right-handed batsman is a part of Royal Challengers Bangalore and has been its captain since the year 2013. Kohli captained the under-19 Indian Cricket team in 2008 and won the ICC Under-19 World Cup in Malaysia. A few months later, Kohli made his ODI debut against Sri Lanka. While initially, Kohli was a reserve middle-order batsman in the Indian cricket team, his mind-boggling performances in the field made him a regular middle-order batsman for the team. Kohli was also a part of the MS Dhoni-led Indian cricket team in 2011 when it won the ICC World Cup that year.
Let us look at the statistics of Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s cricketing career.
Batting Career Summary
| M | Inn | N | Runs | HS | Avg | BF | SR | 100 | 200 | 50 | 4s | 6s | |
| ODI | 254 | 245 | 39 | 12169 | 183 | 59.07 | 13061 | 93.17 | 43 | 0 | 62 | 1140 | 126 |
| IPL | 199 | 191 | 31 | 6067 | 113 | 38.0 | 4659 | 130.4 | 5 | 0 | 40 | 524 | 205 |
| Test | 91 | 153 | 10 | 7490 | 254 | 52.38 | 13112 | 57.12 | 27 | 7 | 25 | 839 | 22 |
| T20I | 90 | 84 | 24 | 3159 | 94 | 52.65 | 2272 | 139.04 | 0 | 0 | 28 | 285 | 90 |
Bowling Career Summary
| M | Inn | B | Runs | Wkts | BBI | BBM | Econ | Avg | SR | 5W | 10W | |
| ODI | 254 | 48 | 641 | 665 | 4 | 1/15 | 1/15 | 6.22 | 166.25 | 160.25 | 0 | 0 |
| IPL | 199 | 26 | 251 | 368 | 4 | 2/25 | 2/25 | 8.8 | 92.0 | 62.8 | 0 | 0 |
| Test | 91 | 11 | 175 | 84 | 0 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 2.88 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 |
| T20I | 90 | 12 | 146 | 198 | 4 | 1/13 | 1/13 | 8.14 | 49.5 | 36.5 | 0 | 0 |
Awards and Honours
While both the players have been bestowed with numerous accolades and honors in sports, below are some of their major achievements. The government of India gives all these awards.
MS DHONI
- Padma Bhushan (India’s third-highest civilian award- 2018
- Padma Shri (India’s fourth-highest civilian award)-2009
- Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna, India’s highest honor in the field of sports- 2007–08
VIRAT KOHLI
- Arjuna Award, given for outstanding achievement in sports- 2013
- Padma Shri, India’s fourth-highest civilian award -2017
- Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna -2018
It won’t be wrong to say that Kohli is the perfect successor of M S Dhoni. Both the players have proved to be gemstones for the Indian cricket team and holistically for the world of cricket. Both of them have taken the game to another level and will be remembered forever for their contribution to cricket.
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