On this day in 2005: MS Dhoni scored his first international century

New Delhi : It was on April 5, 2005, when MS Dhoni registered his first international century in the game of cricket.

The former skipper registered the feat against Pakistan in the second ODI of the six-match series. The match was played at the Dr. Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy ACA-VDCA Cricket Stadium in Visakhapatnam.

In the match, India won the toss and opted to bat first. The side lost the wicket of Sachin Tendulkar in the fourth over of the innings and it brought Dhoni to the middle.

Dhoni along with Sehwag wreaked havoc on the Pakistan bowlers and the duo formed a 96-run stand, which saw Sehwag going past the 50-run mark.

Sehwag (74) was sent back to the pavilion in the 14th over, but the wicket-keeper batsman Dhoni then found support in Rahul Dravid and the duo formed a 149-run stand.

The flamboyant Dhoni smashed 15 fours and 4 sixes in his innings and he managed to play a knock of 148 runs from 123 balls, taking India’s total to 356/9 in the allotted fifty overs.

India then managed to defend the total as the side bundled out Pakistan for 298 as Ashish Nehra scalped four wickets.

Dhoni has so far played 350 ODIs so bar with his highest score being 183 against Sri Lanka.

He also remains the only captain to win all major ICC trophies (50-over World Cup, T20 World Cup, and Champions Trophy). During his leadership, India also managed to attain the number one ranking in Test cricket.

His Indian Premier League (IPL) franchise Chennai Super Kings has also managed to win the tournament three times under his leadership.

Dhoni was slated to return to the cricket field on March 29 in the IPL’s opening match between Chennai Super Kings and Mumbai Indians.

However, the tournament was postponed until April 15 as a precautionary measure against coronavirus.

Thirty-eight-year-old Dhoni has been currently enjoying some time away from the game. He last played competitive cricket during the 2019 World Cup.

Dhoni had to face criticism for his slow batting approach during India’s matches in the tournament.

Earlier this year, Dhoni did not find a place for himself in the BCCI’s centrally contracted players list.

BCCI had released the list of central contract list of players for the period from October 2019 to September 2020. (ANI)