Category Sports

On August 15, 2020, Mahendra Singh Dhoni announced his retirement with a short video and a message that read “Thanks a lot for your love and support throughout from 1929 hrs consider me as Retired”.

It was some time in the making, considering that the last international game that Dhoni played for India came over 13 months before he eventually announced his retirement. But like we’ve come to expect from him, the way he went about making the information public was typical Dhoni. No farewell match, no in-stadium speeches…

Having already retired from Test cricket in 2014, Dhoni’s announcement implies that this marks the end of his limited-overs international career as well.

As a wicketkeeper batsman and a captain, Dhoni has done wonders for India. Here, we will take a look at some of the numbers that define his hugely successful international career…

Runs scored between the two run outs

Dhoni’s international career started and ended in the ODI format. His first international game was an ODI against Bangladesh on December 23, 2004. His last international came against New Zealand in what was the 2019 ODI World Cup semi-final that was played across two days – July 9 and 10, 2019. Dhoni was dismissed by a run out on both occasions, scoring zero on debut and 50 in his last game for India. In the 15 years in between, he scored mountains of runs.

In Tests, Dhoni made his debut against Sri Lanka in December 2005 and played his last match against Australia in December 2014. He scored 4876 runs in the 90 matches he played, averaging 38.09 with six hundreds and 33 fifties.

He played 350 matches overall in the ODI format and finished with 10773 runs at an average of 50.57. He also had 10 hundreds and 73 fifties against his name. His T20I debut was against South Africa in December 2006 and his last game in the format was against Australia in February 2019. He managed 1617 runs in the 98 matches he played, averaging 37.6 with a strike rate of 126.13.

Dhoni, the Gloveman

While Dhoni’s captaincy and batting skills are well documented and discussed, his wicket keeping abilities aren’t often mentioned in the same vein. Dhoni finished his career as one of the best wicketkeeper-batsman ever, especially in the limited overs format, and he always prided his skills behind the wickets, innovating always and effecting lightning fast dismissals throughout his career.

Dhoni’s 444 ODI dismissals is the third-most in the format and his 123 stumpings are the most by any keeper. In T20Is, his 91 dismissals and 34 stumpings are the highest so far.

Captain cool

Dhoni relinquished his captaincy much before his retirement from the limited-overs format, but he leaves behind a rich legacy as one of the most winningest captains, not just for India, but in the cricket world in general. Dhoni is the only captain to win all three limited-overs ICC titles and he also led India to the number one Test ranking. Under his leadership, India won the T20 World Cup in 2007, reached rank one in Tests in 2009, won the ODI World Cup in 2011 and the Champions Trophy in 2013. Dhoni led India in 200 ODIs, 72 T20Is and 60 Tests, giving him a total of 332 – the most as captain for any player in international cricket.

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Victory in the 2019/20 season was not only their ninth successive Serie A title, but their 36th title overall in the Italian top-flight. The next best is AC Milan and Inter Milan, both with 18 titles. This was coach Maurizio Sarri’s first Scudetto (name of the Serie A title), who has previously managed other clubs (Empoli and Napoli) in the top-flight of Italian football. Sarri’s smiles, however, were shortlived as he was sacked a week after the season ended when Juve were knocked out of the Champions League.

Numbers that speak for themselves…

3000 – On Thursday, July 23, 2020, Juventus played a Serie A match against Udinese. Even though they lost that match 2-1, it marked the 3000-day milestone with the Serie A winners shield on their chest. The country continues…

300 – On Wednesday, July 15, 2020, Juventus played out a 3-3 Serie A draw against Sassuolo. That marked their celebration of 300 consecutive matches as the champions of Italy.

61 – When Juventus mathematically sealed the title on Sunday, July 26, 2020, with a 2-0 win over Sampdoria, their coach Sarri was 61 years and 198 days old. That makes him the oldest manager ever to win the Serie A.

61 – Ronaldo went past the 50 Serie A goals mark this season, taking 61 games to reach the milestone. That makes him the quickest ever to reach the feat (in terms of appearances), among those who played in the tree points (for a win) era, which is from 1994/95. In the process, he also became the first player ever to score 50 or more goals in the English Premier League, Spanish La Liga and the Italian Serie A.

31 – Ronaldo finished the Serie A season with 31 goals, becoming just the third player in the club’s history to reach 30 goals in the league. Felice Borel (32 in 1933/34) and John Hansen (30 in 1951/52) are the only other players to do it for Juventus.

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Golden duck (cricket), players who are dismissed by the first ball they face. The term is a shortening of the term “duck’s egg”, the latter being used long before Test cricket began. When referring to the Prince of Wales’ (the future Edward VII) score of nought on 17 July 1866, a contemporary newspaper wrote that the Prince “retired to the royal pavilion on a ‘duck’s egg’ “. The name is believed to come from the shape of the number “0” being similar to that of a duck’s egg, as in the case of the American slang term “goose-egg” popular in baseball and the tennis term “love”, derived – according to one theory – from French l’œuf (“the egg”). The Concise Oxford Dictionary still cites “duck’s egg” as an alternative version of the term.

In the first Test of Australia’s tour of India in 1986, with the cumulative scores tied, Indian tailender Maninder Singh was trapped LBW by Greg Matthews for a four ball duck, ensuring just the second tied Test in Test Cricket history.

Indian all-rounder Ajit Agarkar earned the unfortunate nickname “Bombay Duck” after being dismissed for ducks five consecutive times in test matches against Australia.

In a 1913 match against Glastonbury, Huish and Langport’s batsmen all scored ducks for a total of zero runs. A similar occurrence in indoor cricket happened in 2016, when Bapchild Cricket Club were dismissed for zero against Christ Church University.

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Devine’s streak of 50-plus scores in T20 internationals:

1. 72 against India at Hamilton on 10 Feb 2019
2. 54 not out against South Africa at Mount Maunganui on 2 Feb 2020
3. 61 against South Africa at Hamiliton on 6 Feb 2020
4. 77 against South Africa at Wellington on 9 Feb 2020
5. 105 against South Africa at Wellington on 10 Feb 2020
6. 75 not out against Sri Lanka at Perth on 22 Feb 2020

Devine’s record of scoring six consecutive fifties thus started and ended against India. In the World Cup group game between the two sides last month, Devine was caught by Radha Yadav off the bowling of Poonam Yadav while her score was 14. India went on to win the match and Devine’s run too ended at six. That’s however, still two better than anyone else in T20 internationals, both men and women.

Mithali Raj’s for-match streak of 50-plus scores in T20 internationals:

1. 62 against Sri Lanka at Bangkok on 1 Dec 2016
2. 73 not out against Pakistan at Bangkok on 4 Dec 2016
3. 54 not out against South Africa at Ptchefstroom on 13 Feb 2018
4. 76 not out against South Africa at East London on 16 Feb 2018

Brendon McCullum’s four-match streak of 50-plus scores in T20 internationals:

1. 59 against West Indies at Hamilton on 28 Dec 2008
2. 61 against Australia at Sydney on 15 Feb 2009
3. 56 not out against India at Christchurch on 25 Feb 2009
4. 69 not out against India at Wellington on 27 Feb 2009

Chris Gayle’s four-match streak of 50-plus scores in T20 internationals:

1. 85 not out against New Zealand at Lauderhill on 30 June 2012
2. 53 against New Zealand at Lauderhill on 1 July 2012
3. 54 against Australia at Colombo on 22 Sep 2012
4. 58 against England at Pallekele on 27 Sep 2012

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On February 9, 2020, on day three of the first Test between Pakistan and Bangladesh at Rawalpindi, Pakistan, Naseem Shah took a hat-trick, dismissing Najmul Hossain Shanto, Taijul Islam and Mahmudullah off three consecutive balls.

In the process, Naseem became the youngest player ever to take a Test hat-trick.

When a 19-years-old Alok Kapali became the youngest player to take a Test hat-trick in August 2003, Naseem Shah was a six-month old baby. Kapali, the first Bangladesh player to take a Test hat-trick, achieved the feat against Pakistan at Peshawar, Pakistan, Bangladesh, though, lost that match.

Najmul Hossain Shanto was the first of Naseem’s three wickets in the hat-trick. The ball came back in a long way to hit the left-hander on his pads, but the umpire didn’t budge. Pakistan captain Azhar Ali consulted his bowler signaling for a review. It came in Pakistan’s favour as the ball hit leg stump and Shanto was out.

With few overs remaining in day three of the Test match, Bangladesh sent in Taijul Islam as a night-watchman the ploy, however, didn’t work as Taijul too was lbw, off his very first ball. The ball once again angled in from wide of the crease and hit the left-hander low on his pads. The umpire Nigel Llong had no hesitation in giving this one out.

Taijul Islam had come in to protect Mahmudullah, but his dismissal off the first ball meant Mahmudullah had to come in as the no 6 batsman. The right-hander couldn’t hold back and went for a drive, but the ball moved away just a bit: There was a thick edge, and Haris Sohail did the rest, taking a fine catch at first slip.

Pakistan won the match by an innings and 44 runs. The 16-year-old Naseem Shah, who had one wicket in the first innings and four in the second, was declared player of the match.

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Ukrainian pole vaulter Sergey Bubka dominated the scene for 10 years from 1984-1994. He broke the world record in men’s pole vault 35 times during his career, which included 17 times outdoors and 18 times in indoor competitions. He finished with a best of 6.14 m at outdoor competitions in July 1994 and had a best mark of 6.15 m indoors, set in 1993.

Twenty one years after Bubka set his mark for the indoor world record, Frenchman Renaud Lavillenie broke the mark at the same meet in the same arena. Lavillenie, who had won gold at the 2012 London Olympics, set the mark of 6.16 m at Donestsk, Ukraine on February 15, 2014.

Bubka was at the scene when Lavillenie performed his feat, making it even more special. As indoor and outdoor marks are not seen differently based on a ruling in 2000, Lavillenie’s mark became the official world record.

Armand Duplantis, who goes by his nickname Mondo, was born in the U.S., but represents Sweden in comptetitions. Coached by his father Greg, who was a pole vaulter, and mother Helena, a former heptathlete and volleyball player, he won the silver medal at the 2019 World Championships. On February 8, 2020, during a meet at Torun, Poland, Duplantis broke Lavillenie’s world record with a jump of 6.17 m.

In the very next week, on February 15, 2020, Duplantis added another cm to his world record. The 20-year-old jumped 6.18 m at Glasgow, Scotland.

A week later, at the “All Star Perche” competition in Clermont, France, Duplantis got to pick the brains of Lavillenie. Even though he won the competition, he could not raise the world record further, as he failed at his attempts at 6.19 m.

Duplantis’ marks of 6.17 m and 6.18 m are pending official ratification.

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