India versus Bangladesh: Bengaluru on the 23rd of March 2016.
Once again, my salutations to MAHENDRA SINGH DHONI….
1. Shabbir stumped Dhoni bowled Raina (or Jaddu Jee?) It doesn’t matter who the bowler was! This is the best stumping I have ever seen ( I repeat, Dhoni detractors…I HAVE EVER SEEN…and I don’t intend to question anybody’s cricket-watching experience and knowledge…) in my life….and I have seen quite a few effected by quality stumpers from the time of Wally Grout, Jack Hendricks, Alan Knott, Bob Taylor, Rodney Marsh, Derryk Murray, Jeff Dujon, Farokh Engineer and Syed Mujtaba Hussain Kirmani included…..
2. The last ball run out…….it was a race between the super athletic skipper and wicket keeper of India and the non-striking batsman….both were ready for it…the 35 year old super fit street smart cricketer won the race for India!
3. Another important stroke that has gone unnoticed was that magnificent conversion of a one and a quarter of a run into a two between MSD and Jaddu Jee with the Super Hero Skipper of India leading the way!! And that ONE extra run taken by Dhoni and Sir Jadeja proved to be priceless in the ultimate analysis…
( Purely personal opinion with malice to no one: For me, if the captain of a side is not a brilliant fielder or super athletic runner between the wickets, I am not an admirer of that skipper….For me, a skipper must lead from the front on the field as an athlete too! (AND I DO KNOW THAT MY PERSONAL OPINION DOESN’T MATTER MUCH!)
Dear MSD, You don’t have to prove anything to anyone now. Like always, you don’t worry about your detractors…”KEEP THE LEGEND OF DHONI GROWING” as a commentator tweeted, for your admirers like me…I don’t want anything else from Indian cricket. After Pataudi, I followed Indian cricket for GR Vishwanath, after GR Vishwanath, Indian cricket was admirable for me because of RAHUL DRAVID and after during and after Dravid, it is because of you, MSD…..and surprise, surprise, after MSD, it will be for JINX RAHANE though at the moment Rahane is not fitting into your scheme of T20 things….(Folks, goes on to prove that I AM NOT A BLIND SUPPORTER OF MAHENDRA SINGH DHONI!)
This article originally appeared on the facebook timeline of Mr. Amber Bannerjee