MS Dhoni, the former India captain, has been one of Indian cricket’s greatest players. The Men in Blue have won three ICC titles under his leadership, making him the only captain to do so. In addition, under his leadership, India rose to the top of the Test rankings, although on the basis of a spectacular home run. As a player, he is regarded as one of the game’s top finishers in the one-day format. On the contrary, there is a belief that some seasoned cricketers lost their places in the playing XI during Dhoni’s captaincy. But, at the end of the day, he is also a human being.
Despite pushing Indian cricket to new heights, Dhoni made certain blunders in his decision-making and future proposals. He has passed over several renowned cricketers in order to give younger players opportunity, which has benefited the Indian team in the long term. Recently, a number of former teammates have publicly declared that they did not have skipper Dhoni’s full support.
Here’s the list of few players who lost their sport in the Indian cricket team because of MS Dhoni
Yuvraj Singh
Yuvraj Singh was one of the most talented players on the Indian Team. The Punjab-born cricketer overcame cancer to help India win the World Cup at Mumbai’s Wankhede Stadium. He was named player of the tournament after making big contributions with both bat and ball. Yuvraj Singh was clearly not the same player following his successful cancer battle, as seen by his dreadful performance in the 2014 World T20 final. He did, however, deserved more patience from the board and captain.
The talented all-rounder made it clear that he could still be a match-winner. In fact, his greatest ODI score of 150 came in 2017, just a few years after his long-awaited comeback, in Cuttack. Yuvraj was eventually phased out and did not get the chances he deserved. Many people, including Yuvraj’s father Yograj Singh, blamed MS Dhoni, the team’s skipper at the time, for the incident.
Dinesh Karthik
Dinesh Karthik last played a Test match in January of 2010. MS Dhoni’s contemporaries Dinesh Karthik and MS Dhoni both made their international debuts in the same year. However, throughout his 15 years of international cricket, the Tamil Nadu-born batsman only played 94 One-Day Internationals. Many considered Karthik to be India’s best wicketkeeper, but Dhoni’s rise pushed him aside. Karthik has no qualms about losing his Test position to MS Dhoni, acknowledging that he wasn’t performing particularly well at the time. Despite his strong performance in domestic cricket, Karthik was kept as Dhoni’s backup. This raises concerns about his absence from the national team.
Harbhajan Singh
Harbhajan Singh was left out of the Indian squad despite playing a key part in India’s World Cup victories in 2007 and 2011. Harbhajan Singh has won numerous matches for his nation alongside Anil Kumble. He has also aided young cricketers with his technical knowledge. During India’s 2011 World Cup campaign, the Punjab-born cricketer played a key part. Dhoni began to prefer his Chennai Super Kings teammate Ravichandran Ashwin after the World Cup, and despite a fantastic record, the Turbanator stayed out of contention.
He was selected for the 2012 T20 World Cup and produced stunning figures of 4 for 12 against Sri Lanka in the group round. Harbhajan has only made infrequent appearances in all three forms since then.
Gautam Gambhir
Gautam Gambhir, a former Indian cricketer, was instrumental in helping India win the World T20 in 2008 and the ICC World Cup in 2011 under MS Dhoni’s leadership. However, Dhoni’s decision to implement the opener rotation strategy after the World Cup built a rift between the two that could never be repaired. The left-hander lost trust in his skipper, which had a negative impact on his career. Gautam Gambhir was rarely on the same page with his former captain, as seen by his repeated rants at Dhoni.
Irfan Pathan
After a promising start, Pathan’s career was severely damaged by injury and bad form. When he returned, though, the left-arm pacer continued to produce match-winning performances. With a superb all-round performance against a tough Australian team in Perth in 2008, he was the hero of India’s Test victory. Pathan also did not play another one-dayer after being named man of the match in the Pallekele ODI against Sri Lanka in 2012, with 5 for 61. Even before he reached 28, he was abandoned for good. Pathan deserved more opportunities and confidence from captain MS Dhoni.
