MS Dhoni's career team-mates XI

MS Dhoni has taken Indian cricket to new heights
MS Dhoni has taken Indian cricket to new heights

MS Dhoni has had an illustrious career since his debut in 2004. While he was a part of the golden era of the Indian cricket team under Sourav Ganguly, he created an era for himself with a new generation of Indian cricketers.

Throughout his international and IPL career, Dhoni has played with some of the best cricketers in the world.

Here, in this slideshow, a playing XI has been compiled consisting of players who have walked on to the field along with Dhoni. Of course, the team includes the man himself too.


Openers: Matthew Hayden and Sachin Tendulkar

Tendulkar's played some excellent cricket of his career under Dhoni's leadership
Tendulkar's played some excellent cricket of his career under Dhoni's leadership

Of all the teams that Dhoni has captained, these two openers stand above all the other opening options. While Sehwag could have been in the squad, the left-right combination at the top necessitates Hayden's inclusion in the squad.

Hayden was one of the best openers for Australia. He single-handedly used to demolish the bowling attacks. He was an excellent player for CSK under Dhoni which puts him ahead of the others.

Sachin will make it to any best cricket XI and hence he finds himself in this team too.

Middle Order: Virat Kohli, Yuvraj Singh and Michael Hussey

Both Yuvraj and Kohli blossomed under Dhoni's leadership
Both Yuvraj and Kohli blossomed under Dhoni's leadership

Virat Kohli is the best batsman in the world right now and his journey to the top started under Dhoni's captaincy. He has won many games for India and is an obvious choice for the No.3 position.

Though Dhoni and Yuvi are contemporaries, Yuvi's career scaled new heights under Dhoni's leadership. Yuvraj reached the peak of his career in the 2011 World Cup. The partnership of Dhoni and Yuvi have treated the fans many memorable partnerships in the past.

Michael Hussey has been one of the best finishers that the world has seen. In CSK, Hussey was a consistent performer for Dhoni and hence he is an automatic choice to this squad.

Wicket-keeper: MS Dhoni

Dhoni has effected some mindblowing dismissals behind the stumps
Dhoni has effected some mindblowing dismissals behind the stumps

Although Dhoni has been in a team with other wicketkeepers, he has always been preferred above all of them. Hence, it is of no surprise that he would keep wickets in this team.

All-rounder: Dwayne Bravo

Playing for CSK, Bravo has been Dhoni's go-to bowler
Playing for CSK, Bravo has been Dhoni's go-to bowler

Dhoni has played with good all-rounders such as Watson, Flintoff and Jacob Oram among others. However, Bravo's transition as an excellent death bowler happened under Dhoni's leadership.

Bravo at No.7 is an asset for any team as he can also win matches with his bat on his day. Hence, Bravo beats the other all-rounders to make it to this eleven.

Spinners: Anil Kumble and Muttiah Muralitharan

Kumble has been India's best spinner
Kumble has been India's best spinner

MS Dhoni can consider himself lucky to have played with the best spinners in the history of cricket. While he played under Kumble's captaincy for India, Muralitharan was a regular in his CSK squad.

This experience has, in turn, helped him in becoming a good wicketkeeper against spinners such as Ashwin and Kuldeep Yadav.

It was Dhoni who started the trend of using spinners to contain runs in IPL and this has transformed the way spinners are bowling now.

Pacers: Zaheer Khan and Makhaya Ntini

Ntini played under Dhoni for CSK
Ntini played under Dhoni for CSK

MS Dhoni has had very few chances of playing with good pacers in IPL. With India, Zaheer has been the best bowler under Dhoni and hence he can be an easy pick for this squad. Although Bumrah and Bhuvaneshwar are bowling well now, Zaheer is a better pick due to his experience.

Ntini, who was South Africa's premier fast bowler during his playing days, played under Dhoni in the first few seasons of IPL. Hence, Ntini will form a good partnership with Zaheer in this squad.

With Dhoni's career in its final stages, he will be looking to sign off on a high with a World Cup win next year. However, he has to overcome his bad patch with the bat very soon to do so.

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