MS Dhoni over the years: The remarkable journey from 2004-2018 in pictures

Dhoni’s 224 is still the highest score by an Indian wicketkeeper

It took time, but the Indian team slowly found their rhythm back. Dhoni led the team during their remarkable 4-0 revenge whitewash against Australia in early 2013, compiling a sublime 224 at Chennai, the highest score by an Indian wicket-keeper in Tests. It wasn’t long after that he became India’s most successful Test captain, overtaking Sourav Ganguly’s record of 21 wins in 49 Tests.

To put the icing on the cake, Dhoni led India to their second Champions Trophy win, a sustained team effort in England. With that win, Dhoni became the first captain ever to win all the three major ICC silverware: the World Cup, the World T20 and the Champions Trophy. His place in the echelons of the greatest cricket captains had been sealed.

With the Champions Trophy win, there wasn’t anything left to achieve as a captain

He continued to captain the Indian team, but his Test fortunes continued to slide. After series losses to South Africa and England, Dhoni travelled with a young team to Australia. He stunned everyone by announcing his Test retirement midway through the series, leaving Wriddhiman Saha to don the keeping gloves, and Virat Kohli to take over the team.

Without even dropping a hint, Dhoni retired from Test cricket at the end of 2014

There were doubts about him captaining the one-day side, but he quelled all rumours by leading the side in the 2015 World Cup, motivated by the prospect of retaining the crown that he himself helped attain four years ago. His smart captaincy formed the foundation of India’s excellent run, before they stumbled and fell against hosts Australia in the semi-finals to prevent Dhoni from creating history. He tried hard, but his knock of 65 went in vain.

With Dhoni’s dismissal, India’s 2015 World Cup hopes ended

The next few series saw Dhoni’s finishing skills take a hit, even though he was still scoring runs at a fair clip. Each failure made his critics’ voices even stronger, especially because of Kohli’s increasing influence in the dressing room and his on-field performances. Last over slips against South Africa, West Indies and Zimbabwe hurt both him and the team badly.

Dhoni’s near-perfect finishing skills suddenly started to wane