Team India head coach Ravi Shastri showered rich praise on MS Dhoni, who called time on his international cricket career on Saturday (August 15).
Dhoni, who was out of action after India’s World Cup 2019 campaign, announced his retirement through an Instagram post, finally putting an end to all the speculations surrounding his future.
Hailing Dhoni for changing the face of Indian cricket with his leadership, Shastri said the wicketkeeper-batsman should be considered as one of the all-time greats of the game.
"This man is second to none. And coming from where he did he changed cricket for all times to come. And his beauty is he did it in all formats. T-20- he has won a world cup and multiple IPL titles. 50 overs- he has won a world cup. Test cricket- he has taken India to the number one position in the world. Played 90 Test matches.
"And he always took life as it came. From his days in Kharagpur to his days as an Indian cricketer he was always in the moment. And in retirement also he has moved on. As I said he is second to none," Ravi Shastri told India Today.
"As a wicket keeper he was not a natural but was effective as hell. Look at the impact he had. For me what stood out was his stumpings and his run outs. He had such fast hands that he was at times faster than any pickpocket. The batsman wouldn’t even realise that Dhoni had taken the bails off and that’s something that added to his aura.
"In any life of cricket’s greatest, not greats but the greatest, you have to include this man. As I said in my tweet I will always have fond memories of him," he added.
Team India tasted huge success under Dhoni’s captaincy, winning the 2007 World T20, 2011 Cricket World Cup and 2013 Champions Trophy. He also led the team to pinnacle in Test cricket.
As a batsman, Dhoni transformed himself into one of the greatest finishers of the game. He represented the country in 90 Tests, 350 ODIs and 98 T20Is, aggregating more than 17000 international runs.
The former India skipper also has 634 catches and 195 stumpings (world record) to his name across three formats.
