M.S. Dhoni is one of the most loved cricketers in the country. He is hailed by critics as the best whiteball captain to lead the Indian cricket team. Born in Ranchi, he has won everything there is to win in cricket. Dhoni led a young Indian team and won the T20 World Cup in 2007. In 2011, he ended India’s 28-year long drought by winning the 50-over World Cup.
Even though Dhoni has retired from international cricket, Dhoni’s grace is still intact. Dhoni’s birthday is on July 7. To highlight it, the article will be published continuously on the new generation website from today.
While Dhoni is a popular figure among fans, some of the retired legends of Indian cricket no longer feel for him. Here is the list of Indian cricket legends who publicly criticized Dhoni!
1. Gautam Gambhir
Gambhir was instrumental in India winning two World Cup titles (T20 and ODI). Both the 2007 World T20 final against arch-rivals Pakistan and the 2011 ODI World Cup against Sri Lanka, Gawatam Gambhir performed exceptionally well.
Despite his knock of 97 against Sri Lanka in the 2011 ODI World Cup final, Gambhir feels fans and pundits did not give him enough credit and respect for the World Cup win. A few years ago, this pent-up pressure came to the fore on Twitter.
Just a reminder @ESPNcricinfo: #worldcup2011 was won by entire India, entire Indian team & all support staff. High time you hit your obsession for a SIX. pic.twitter.com/WPRPQdfJrV — Gautam Gambhir (@GautamGambhir) April 2, 2020
In a tweet celebrating Dhoni’s six in the World Cup final, Gambhir wrote: “A reminder : Team India won the World Cup with the entire Indian team and all the support staff. Don’t get too carried away with your obsession with sixes.” mentioned that.
Every time Dhoni gets a lot of fanfare and posts posts, he never fails to share a picture of himself playing in the final in a muddy Indian jersey. In the last IPL season, Gambhir, who showed a natural reaction when Lucknow beat all the teams in a row, the reaction he gave in the second to defeat the Chennai team is unforgettable for anyone who knows cricket.
2. Yuvraj Singh
There was a time when Yuvraj Singh and Dhoni were best friends. But their relationship is not like that now. Yuvraj Singh has accused Dhoni of betraying other senior cricketers and not giving them the support they deserve on several occasions. Yuvraj Singh also said that Dhoni played 350 ODIs not because he played well but because of the support of captain Virat Kohli and coach Ravi Shastri.
“Look at Mahi (MS Dhoni) at the end of his career. He has a lot of support from Virat and Ravi Shastri. They took him to the 2019 World Cup where he played till the end and went on to play 350 games. I think support is very important, but not everyone in Indian cricket gets the support that Dhoni got,” Yuvraj said. Apart from that, Yuvraj also said that he cannot become the Indian captain because some BCCI officials don’t like him and prefer Dhoni. Several times the accusations against Dhoni have been leveled by Yuvraj’s father.
3. Virendra Sehwag
Another cricketer who has publicly slammed Dhoni’s behavior towards senior players is former India opener Virender Sehwag. During India’s tour of Australia in 2012, Dhoni had told the media that the reason three senior players, Sehwag, Sachin Tendulkar and Gambhir, were replaced in succession was because they were slow fielders.
This made Sehwag angry. Because according to him, Dhoni never talked about it with the players and they got to know this reason from the media. “We came to know through the media that MS Dhoni said in Australia that the top three are slow fielders. He did not tell us this directly,” said Sehwag.
4. Harbhajan Singh
After retiring, Harbhajan Singh made some shocking statements about Dhoni. In which Dhoni accused him of ending his career prematurely. He said it was a huge shame that most of the senior cricketers who helped India win the 2011 World Cup were dropped from the team.
“How someone who has taken 400 wickets can be dropped is a mysterious story. This puzzle is still unsolved. I still wonder, ‘What really happened? Who cares if I stay on the team? I tried to ask the captain (Dhoni) why, but I was not told the reason. I realized that there is no point in me asking the reason and who is behind it, because if you keep asking and no one answers, then it is better to leave it,” Harbhajan said.
5. Irfan Pathan
Irfan Pathan once in an interview slammed the selectors for sacking him despite winning the Man of the Match award in the last ODI and T20I he played for India. “In my last ODI, last T20I, I was man of the match. “Those who say I don’t get swing should know how I bowled in the first place,” Irfan had said.
“I talked about what Mahi (MS Dhoni) said about me during the 2008 Australia series that Irfan did not bowl well. I was bowling well throughout the series, so I asked him for an explanation and what I need to do to get better. I remember being dropped after winning the game in Sri Lanka in 2008. Who will be dropped after playing for the country? Which match winner was sat out? But I was expelled like that,” said Pathan. Irfan said that all I got was removal from the team based on his questioning.