Heena Sharma Blog

  Former India skipper MS Dhoni will always be remembered for finishing tight matches with a smile and sending a billion people into a frenzy. He might have called time on his international career in August 2020, but Dhoni still holds a special place in the hearts of the fans and just one glimpse of him is enough to send social media into a frenzy. For over a decade, Dhoni's unorthodox batting style, especially the famed helicopter shot, gave international bowlers a headache. As the wicketkeeper-batsman celebrates his 40th birthday today, let's relive his first century in international cricket. It was on April 5, 2005, when Dhoni made his first international ton. The former skipper registered the feat against Pakistan in the second ODI of the six-match series. The match was played at the Dr. YS Rajasekhara Reddy ACA-VDCA Cricket Stadium in Visakhapatnam. Read More

  The much-awaited franchise-based cricket tournament, Indian Premier League, will begin on Saturday, almost six months after its scheduled start due to coronavirus imposed hiatus. In the IPL 2020 opener, defending champions Mumbai Indians (MI) will lock horns with Chennai Super Kings (CSK) at Sheikh Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabhi in an empty stadium, a sight unusual for the world’s richest cricket league. Covid-19 has introduced a new normal to the world and empty stadiums for sporting events are now the norm as part of this new normal. IPL 2020 opening ceremony and cheerleaders This year’s IPL would be all about cricket as opening ceremony will not take place due to Covid-19 pandemic. Also cheerleaders won’t be the present owing to social distancing norms which means IPL 2020 will be all about cricket with no glamour. Read More

Two time World Cup winning former India captain MS Dhoni on Monday completed 15 years in international cricket, a milestone that has come at a time when he is on a sabbatical from the game. The dasher from Ranchi, who made his debut against Bangladesh under Sourav Ganguly's captaincy in 2004, has been one of country's most impactful cricketers with 17266 runs across all formats for India. The 38-year-old wicketkeeper turned up for the country in 350 ODIs, 90 Tests and 98 T20 Internationals while affecting a staggering 829 dismissals behind the stumps. His career is studded with several milestones including leading India to victory in the 2011 World Cup where finished the match with a six to help the 'Men in Blue' lift the coveted trophy. Under Dhoni India transformed into one of the most successful limited-overs sides in world cricket and he is the only Indian captain to have won all the three major ICC trophies -- the World Cup in 2011, the T20 World Cu...

Skipper Virat Kohli's availability and veteran Mahendra Singh Dhoni's future will be in focus when the MSK Prasad-led national selection panel meets here on Friday to pick the Indian cricket squads for next month's tour of the West Indies. The 38-year old Dhoni, whose finishing abilities with the bat has been on the wane, would be the centre of discussion amid speculation that the Jharkhand player is contemplating retirement even though he hasn't spoken about it till now. Dhoni's selection or omission would be an indicator of things to come in the future. India are set to play T20s, as many ODIs and two Tests in a full-fledged tour to the Caribbean islands, starting August 3. Considering next year's T20 World Cup to be held in Australia, the selectors might opt for the young Rishabh Pant, who is seen as heir apparent to Dhoni. Dhoni was dropped from the T20 series against West Indies and Australia last October and there is a strong chance that he w...

Michael Hussey feels that Mahendra Singh Dhoni does not have "too many weaknesses" but even if he has, the Chennai Super Kings batting coach wouldn't share them with in-form Australia ahead of their World Cup clash on Sunday. Having crushed Afghanistan and put up an inspirational performance against a rampaging West Indies, Australia are expected to be more than a handful for India when the two teams square off at the Oval. Hussey has played alongside Dhoni at CSK and as coach, watched him from close quarters in the franchise. So, will Hussey share his insights on Dhoni with the Australian coaching team? "No chance. There aren't too many weaknesses there anyway," the former Australia batsman let out a chuckle as he spoke to PTI in an exclusive interview. However, Hussey is confident that Australia will have their plans in place for the former India captain. "All the teams do very thorough analysis on all the players so I am sure that t...

Parthiv Patel, the man whose direct hit gave Royal Challengers Bangalore an improbable one-run win over Chennai Super Kings, said he was left quite surprised when Mahendra Singh Dhoni missed hitting the last ball of the cliffhanger. Patel wasn't expecting a marauding Dhoni to miss Umesh Yadav's slower delivery before his direct throw sealed it for the home team on Sunday night. Dhoni scored 24 off the first five balls of the final over before missing the last ball. A scramble for one run ended in Parthiv's direct throw leaving Shardul Thakur short of his crease. "We honestly wanted him (Dhoni) to hit through the off-side on the shorter side of the ground. If he had hit it on the leg-side, there were two runs because I don't think the way he runs, there was any chance of stopping those two," an elated Patel said at the post-match press conference. "So we wanted (Umesh) to bowl slower and outside the off-stump and surprisingly he missed it. I ...

Veteran spinner Imran Tahir described Chennai Super Kings skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni as "unreal", saying even without talking much he has the capability to lift the team up. Chennai Super Kings secured a thrilling eight-run win over Rajasthan Royals in their IPL match here on Sunday night as Dhoni hit a match-winning unbeaten knock of 75 off 46 balls to guide his team to a respectable total of 175 under challenging conditions. "The way he carries himself is just unreal. He won't say much but he knows how to lift the team up. He is a great leader and a great human being," Tahir said at the post-match press conference. The South African also credited Dhoni for living up to his reputation of being one the best finishers in the world and a good tactician. "You know Dhoni plays really well in these situations because like (Dwayne) Bravo he's done this so many times, and that's why he's called Mr Cool. He works hard on his game plan. E...