My Dhoni tribute :

Let me put this before we cut to the chase. I am not one of those Dhoni followers who say " No Dhoni, No cricket" etc.. For me the game is more important than any individual. I am not even his fan per se. I have disagreed with many of his decisions and have recorded that even in public forum. My personal opinion of his aside I don't think many would argue that he is the best thing to have happened to Indian cricket after the class of 96'.Here's three Dhoni moments I loved during his captaincy tenure.

1. November 10, 2008- India vs Australia, Nagpur :

It was the dying moments of the test matches which India was winning hands down. Apart from wrapping up the series the match was important for another reason. Saurav Ganguly, one of India's successful captains of all times(I hope people don't take offense for this) was hanging up his boots once and for all. While we all expected a victory lap for Saurav after the match, Dhoni pulled out a surprise of having Saurav captain the team for those few minutes. It was a photo finish end to a glorious career. Of all the talk of Dhoni being biased to the seniors there can be no bias in this act of his.

2. April 2, 2011- India vs Sri Lanka, World cup finals, Mumbai :

Despite steering team India home through his match winning 91 he never really tried to hog the limelight once the game was over.  He understood rightly that it was Sachin's moment. Even when Sachin was carried around the ground during the victory lap Dhoni was no where to be seen in the picture. He was quietly walking behind without taking the centre stage. In a country like ours where people invariably like the limelight here was a man who didn't wish to steal someone else's thunder in an occasion as big as a world cup victory.

3. July 11, 2013- India vs Sri Lanka, Port Of Spain : 

India needed 15 runs of the last over to win the title with only one wicket remaining. Dhoni and no. 11 Ishant Sharma were on strike. He just have to score all the runs by himself as he cant risk a no. 11 in strike the last over. This is a situation where even the best of the game shall wilt under the sheer pressure. Not MS Dhoni as he just finished it off in four balls(the first ball being a dot). It was clearly one of those instances of coming back from the dead and Dhoni did all this with a smile on his face.

Many might argue with his tactics, strategies, game plan etc...But it is only right to salute and thank him now at this point of time. Thank you MS for all the memories.