Harsha Bhogle calls MS Dhoni an "all-time great" on his birthday

As MS Dhoni turns 35, greetings and birthday wishes have poured in for the Indian skipper congratulating him. Many fans and well-wishers have shared videos whereas others have remembered some of his best knocks and memorable moments from a hugely successful career. Among the many gems that piled up as the iconic player’s birthday gifts, the message from Commentator Harsha Bhogle wonderfully summed up what has been a fantastic cricket career for the world cup winning Indian captain.

Bhogle’s message reminded us of Dhoni’s journey from his wild days as a destructive lower order batsman to his growing into a mature finisher responsible for seeing the team through to the end. It outlines his transformation from a limited overs specialist to becoming a fantastic Test player and an excellent T20 cricketer. The veteran commentator expressed his views about why he considers Dhoni more suited to the shorter format and how in his opinion Dhoni’s contribution to ODIs has trumped that of his legacy in Tests.

He goes on to express his concerns about how staying away from international cricket for long periods may adversely affect Dhoni’s performance at the highest level. However, he concludes on a positive note that notwithstanding where his career goes from here, he is convinced that the Indian ODI skipper has already proved himself and will be remembered as an “all-time India great”.

The birthday message comes after the two of them have been embroiled in bits and pieces of controversy after Dhoni supported Amitabh Bacchan’s tweet in the aftermath of India’s sensational 1 run win over Bangladesh in Bengaluru. The Bollywood superstar had tweeted that Indian commentators presented a biased commentary favouring and focusing more on the opponents than their own countrymen and Dhoni seemed to agree with him.

It was generally thought that the tweet was directed at Harsha Bhogle who took to social media and even directly messaged Mr. Bachchan to clarify how the English feed is transmitted globally and hence a neutral approach from the commentators is required rather than taking an Indian viewpoint.

T 2184 - With all due respects, it would be really worthy of an Indian commentator to speak more about our players than others all the time.

— Amitabh Bachchan (@SrBachchan) March 23, 2016

Nothing to add https://t.co/8rBel3vw4o

— Mahendra Singh Dhoni (@msdhoni) March 23, 2016

There was further controversy when Harsha Bhogle was not in the ICC commentating panel with some attributing his absence to Dhoni and other Indian players’ problems with him. However, the cricket analyst did not shy away and one of his tweets was thought to have deliberately taken a dig at Dhoni where he mentions Dhoni’s slow batting and inability to finish the match as proof of his failure.

180+ run chase. 41 (38) can't win it for you. Some days it might come off but most days it won't from there

— Harsha Bhogle (@bhogleharsha) April 22, 2016

However on the occasion of the skipper’s birthday, everything foul seems to have been forgiven and forgotten as one of the world’s most loved commentators expresses appreciation for India’s most successful captain. The beautiful wish from Harsha Bhogle is exactly what supporters of both him and Dhoni need to stop squabbling and hope that both of them continue to provide sought after entertainment for a long time yet.