On Saturday, the former Indian skipper, MS Dhoni left everyone shocked and heartbroken as he announced his retirement from international cricket. With one of the most glorious chapters in the cricket history coming to end, social media was flooded with heartfelt tributes for the legendary cricketer, saluting his contribution towards the Indian cricket team.
While everyone was pouring in wishes for the legendary cricketer, Indian off-spinner R Ashwin considered it as a perfect time to cherish his memories for the former skipper.
R Ashwin via his latest video on YouTube series ‘Reminisce with Ash’, where he shared his top five memories with his former skipper. Before he picked his 5 best memories, Ashwin talked highly about MS Dhoni and his early encounters with the legendary keeper-batsman.
Ashwin recalled how MS Dhoni bid farewell to Test cricket in a similar manner when the two of them were walking back after saving the 2014 Melbourne Test against the Australian cricket team. He said:
“We are all aware that MS Dhoni quit his Test career in a similar manner in Australia. In fact MS Dhoni and I were batting together to save the Test in Melbourne. And once the Test match was over, he plucked the stumps and on the way he said that he was done.”
He further revealed how Dhoni was wearing his test jersey the entire night and was having tears in his eyes. He said:
“And then he went to the press conference and called it quits in his own style. It was an emotional moment. In fact, I remember Ishant Sharma, Suresh Raina and myself sitting in his room that evening and he was wearing his Test match jersey for the entire night and he was having a few tears.”
R Ashwin also recalled his memories of his first meeting with Dhoni at the Chepauk, where he had come as a net bowler. He later posted a picture of the two on his Orkut. He wrote:
“Long time ago, I met MS Dhoni as a net bowler in the India vs West Indies ODI at Chepauk. I have a photo of me and him and I had posted it on Orkut, those were the days.”
Recalling the memories his first season of IPL with CSK under the leadership of Dhoni, he said:
“In 2008, when I got a contract with CSK I went on to join hands with him, watched him from close quarters and realised what a mature leader MS Dhoni was. I learnt a lot underneath him, in fact I didn’t get opportunities at CSK in the first two years.”
He added:
“We played a Challenger Trophy against each other. I dismissed him in a final and celebrated like a spring chicken. That was my first memory of getting MS Dhoni’s wicket.”
Sharing his first memory with Dhoni was his first IPL interaction between CSK and KXIP in 2010. He said:
“I am going to go a long way back to 2010 in Dharamshala. CSK was really in trouble and in the final game we had to beat KXIP to qualify for the semi-finals. I remember very clearly that I was dropped for the entire season, came back and went on to be the best bowler of the season.”
“But MS Dhoni killed the entire night by hitting those monstrous sixes off Irfan Pathan and took CSK to the semi-final and in fact we won the IPL that year.”
Ashwin’s next memory with Dhoni was the Champions League encounter against Victoria in 2010, where David Hussey hit him for three sixes in the Super Over. Recalling the memory, he said:
“My second best moment with MS Dhoni would be the Champions League in 2010 itself in South Africa. Again a vital memory for me as I was the best bowler of the tournament.”
“MS Dhoni, in that particular tournament, taught me a very important lesson. I bowled the Super Over against Victoria Bushrangers and he came up quietly and said that I did not go to my best ball under pressure, that I had the carrom ball and had to use it a lot more.”
“That is something he always maintained with respect to me, he said I was very very innovative and always maintained that I must keep sharpening that aspect of my game.”
https://twitter.com/DHONIism/status/1254256996229935104?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1254256996229935104%7Ctwgr%5E&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.sportskeeda.com%2Fcricket%2Fnews-r-ashwin-shares-top-5-memories-ms-dhoni
Ashwin’s third-best memory with Dhoni was the 2011 World Cup final, where Dhoni amassed unbeaten 91-runs and took India to victory. He said:
“My third memory with MS Dhoni will be the World Cup campaign in 2011. The 2011 campaign was nothing short of drama with the Indian team having gone through everything.”
“And finally when the business end came, the final, until when I don’t remember MS Dhoni scoring anything big in the World Cup but he walked out like a man who wanted to face the music and played one of the most decisive knocks in a World Cup final.”
“Everybody went numb that night, one of the best nights of my cricketing career.”
Ashwin’s fourth-best memory with the legendary skipper was from 2013 Champions Trophy. He said:
“The fourth-best memory is the 2013 Champions Trophy. He was extremely confident in my abilities. I went wicketless in the first game of the Champions Trophy and subsequently Jadeja had a wonderful tournament and MS Dhoni constantly came up to me and said that Jaddu is picking the wickets but that’s how the game is and that my moment will surely come in that tournament and he believed that I could deliver.”
He added:
“And this is something he said not once, but multiple times including on the final night. In the final over of the Champions Trophy he said that my thought process was perfect and he was sure that I would be able to deliver and he gave the ball to me in the final over.”
The fifth and final memory picked by Ashwin was the Chennai Test against Australia, where Dhoni played a 224 run in the first innings and Ashwin picked 12 wickets in the same match. He said:
“The last or fifth memory is the Chepauk Test in 2013 against Australia. It was the best Test match I have been a part of personally and for MS Dhoni. He went on to score a double-hundred, I picked up 13 (12) wickets.”
#DidYouKnow MS Dhoni is the only India wicket-keeper to have scored a double century in Tests ?
He made 224 in the 2013 Chennai Test against Australia. pic.twitter.com/eJCXaq8fVq
— ICC (@ICC) August 10, 2020
Ashwin revealed that MS Dhoni came to him and said that he would win the Man of the Series after the Indian captain had won the same award. And this actually turned out to be true. He had said:
“At the end of the Test match he came up to me in his own humble way and said that he was the Man of the Match but he was sure that I would be the Man of the Series.”
He concluded:
“You retiring just before the IPL makes you even more ominous for the IPL.”
