Twitter goes berserk as Captain Cool MS Dhoni returns after 696 days to lead Indian side for the 200th time

696 days after playing his last match as the captain of Indian, Mahendra Singh Dhoni will be playing his 200th ODI as a captain against Afghanistan in India's last Super Four match of the 2018 Asia Cup. With this match, Dhoni became the first Asian captain to lead his side in 200 ODIs. He is third on the list of players which most ODIs as captain behind Australia's Ricky Ponting (230 matches) and New Zealand's Stephen Flemming (218 matches).

In his 199 games as the captain of the Indian side, MS Dhoni won 110 matches and lost 74 matches. As a captain, he scored 6633 runs with an average of 53.92 at a strike rate of 86.29 prior to today.

in the 199 matches that he captained India, he scored 6633 runs with an average of 53.92 at a strike rate of 86.29. Dhoni stepped down as the captain of India after India's match against New Zealand at Vishakapatnam in October 2016. He made the decision to step down as the captain to give ample time to Virat Kohli for settling down as the captain before the 2019 World Cup.

Dhoni's comments after the toss:

We were looking to bowl first. Quite a few changes. Both the openers are missing, Bhuvi, Bumrah and Chahal are also missing. Everybody who hadn't played in this tournament gets a chance. They are part of the 15 and are representing India. We'll have to keep the intensity up. It is important for them to adjust to the line and length they need to bowl. I was not really sure of where I am standing. I have captained 199 ODIs, so this gives me an opportunity to make it 200. It's all destiny and I have always believed in that. It's not in my control, once I left captainship. Good to complete 200, but I don't think it really matters.

While Afghanistan made just two changes to their playing XI, India made quite a few changes to side as the management wanted to give a chance to everyone in the squad. While Deepak Chahar will make his ODI debut for India in this match, key players like Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan, Jaspreet Bumrah, Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Yuzvendra Chahal were rested.

India's Playing XI: Lokesh Rahul, Ambati Rayudu, Manish Pandey, MS Dhoni(w/c), Dinesh Karthik, Kedar Jadhav, Ravindra Jadeja, Deepak Chahar, Siddarth Kaul, Kuldeep Yadav, K Khaleel Ahmed

Here are the Twitters reactions to MS Dhoni's return to captaincy:

This current Indian XI has five players from CSK, Dhoni, Rayudu, Jadhav, Jadeja & Chahar. Given that usually just seven players in an IPL XI are Indian, that is a crazy record. Would anyone know if this is a record for an Indian XI? @deeputalks

— Joy Bhattacharjya (@joybhattacharj) September 25, 2018

200th game as skipper for Dhoni. To all his die hard followers, who were waiting with a ray of hope to see him lead the side in India colors. Here's it. #INDvAFG

— Hemang Badani (@hemangkbadani) September 25, 2018

200th ODI for @msdhoni as captain and for the first time, he has too many changes to say. Not that it matters so much but good on getting the double.

— Nikhil 🏏 (@CricCrazyNIKS) September 25, 2018

MS back leading the kind of bowling line-up he would love to have (even if there are better options around) and also the kind he led in all his years as Indian captain.

— Alagappan V (@IndianMourinho) September 25, 2018

Dhoni will be the captain of India for today's match. This time officially. #INDvAFG

— SAGAR (@sagarcasm) September 25, 2018

MS Dhoni becomes the first Asian to lead a team for 200 ODIs...

— Broken Cricket (@BrokenCricket) September 25, 2018

#Thala leading #TeamIndia today, his 200th ODI match as Captain 🇮🇳 Reminds me of this spectacular frame from #Baahubali seeing @msdhoni at the toss. #WhistlePodu for our @ChennaiIPL 🦁 Lions MSD, Rayudu, Kedar, Jadeja, Deepak & the entire team. Best of Luck #INDvAFG #AsiaCup pic.twitter.com/ohYrtCn8w6

— Lakshmi Narayanan (@lakshuakku) September 25, 2018

WTF is this? Why is MS Dhoni captaining the side? If not Rohit, Shikhar should have captained. Why would you rest your captain and vice captain both?

— Abhishek (@Sajjanlaunda) September 25, 2018

What an unexpected surprise Ms Dhoni leading men in blues after a long time ❤️❤️#INDvAFG #AFGvIND pic.twitter.com/gNiS8UUQ6b

— Prashant Pareek (@prashan23S) September 25, 2018

MS Dhoni to captain India today.Golden days are back. #AFGvIND #AsiaCup2018 pic.twitter.com/u0f5Pio38d

— statesman (@Clerk139) September 25, 2018

😍 Dhoni as a captain #INDvAFG pic.twitter.com/6VZoXaFB5M

— Mask Indian (@Mr_LoLwa) September 25, 2018

Dhoni (c), Rayudu, Jadhav, Jadeja, Chahar - WHISTLE PODU IN BLUE 🧢 @ChennaiIPL

— Saurabh Malhotra (@MalhotraSaurabh) September 25, 2018

5/11 players from CSK in the playing XI (Kedar Jadhav, Ambati Rayudu, Deepak Chahar & Ravindra Jadeja ) led by MS Dhoni. CSK team in the garb of team India?#INDvAFG #AsiaCup2018

— Deepu Narayanan (@deeputalks) September 25, 2018

MS Dhoni makes his comeback as ODI captain. #INDvAFG pic.twitter.com/2FKbyleVSU

— Prashant Pareek (@prashan23S) September 25, 2018

She:-Dhoni will be the Captain of India for today's match Me:- #INDvAFG pic.twitter.com/W3AntO7bTB

— भाईसाहब (@Bhai_saheb) September 25, 2018

MS Dhoni leads the Indian team for 200th time in ODI's😍 What a proud moment.😘 He has captained against 13 oppositions and Afghanistan happens to be the 14th #INDvAFG #AsiaCup2018

— Sriram (@SriramARR) September 25, 2018

Relive The Moment Once Again MS Dhoni The Captain of ICT ❤ #INDvAFG

— Mahendra Singh Dhoni (@Ansh_MSDian) September 25, 2018