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Australian cricketer have lauded MS Dhoni’s decorated international career as the India veteran is set to play Down Under for potentially the last time.
The World Cup-winning captain and dynamic wicketkeeper-batsman has been named in India’s 16-man squad for the upcoming three-match ODI series, which starts on Saturday (January 12).
Dhoni has over 16,000 international runs to his name along with 16 international centuries. He also has over 800 dismissals behind the stumps and has scored 9,999 runs for India in ODIs. The first run that he’d score on the Australian soil will be his 10,000th ODI run for India.
MS Dhoni – The Greatest and the Mightiest
One of the best wicketkeeper-batsman: Tim Paine
“I think he is one of the best wicketkeeper-batsmen to ever play the game. He is right up there, no doubt about that, particularly in white-ball cricket. Hopefully, he doesn’t get too many runs but it’s certainly going to be nice to have him here for a little bit. I’m happy I won’t be out there against him,” said Tim Paine.
“What I do love about watching him play, whether he is batting or keeping and captaining, he keeps things very simple. That’s just from what I can see. Cricket is very complicated game and I’ve enjoyed watching him really simplify it still in this modern age. He just looks like he does the basics pretty well, stays real relaxed and – at his age from the pressure he would be under in India and around the world – he looks like he just loves playing cricket,” he added.
My main memory of Dhoni is just his persona on the field: Pat Cummins
“I think my main memory of Dhoni is just his persona on the field. You’ve seen him winning IPL tournaments, World Cups, Test matches, incredible victories, and he just picks up the stump and walks off (like) nothing happened.
“Winning games from impossible positions and he just seems like the most level, calm captain when he’s captaining, just play, nothing seems too big a deal, and just can pull things out of his hat like no one else. He’s a great ambassador for cricket, being an idol to a billion Indian people back home and he’s hugely respected around the world,” said Cummins.
He’s obviously a legend of a cricketer but he’s such a good bloke and so relaxed: Usman Khawaja
“He’s obviously a legend of a cricketer but he’s such a good bloke and so relaxed. I love playing cricket with him and on the same team because I think we’re quite similar in the way we play.
“He concentrates on the controllables, doesn’t worry about the rest, doesn’t let a lot faze him, understands there’s a lot of up and downs in cricket and I think he’s experienced that throughout his career and the way he plays and the way he goes about it.
“He’s one of the guys I really enjoy playing with and he’s such a good bloke, so yeah there’ll be a big crowd to see him probably one last time in Australia,” said Usman Khawaja.
I think that he’s obviously one of the all-time greats of the game: Aaron Finch
“I think the way that he’s led India under the most extreme cricket scrutiny for a long time has been unbelievable,” Finch said.
“I think that he’s obviously one of the all-time greats of the game. It will be a sad day if he doesn’t come back to Australia after this tour, he’s a brilliant entertainer and someone that people pay money to come through the gates to watch,” Finch concluded.
