MS Dhoni becomes top Twitter trend, fans miss icon on 16th anniversary in cricket

Former India cricketer and legendary captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni completed 16 years in international cricket on Wednesday. The MS Dhoni debut came under Sourav Ganguly’s captaincy on December 23, 2004, against Bangladesh in an ODI at Chattogram. It wasn’t exactly a debut to remember for Dhoni as he was, unfortunately, run-out for a first-ball duck.

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Fans pay tribute to MS Dhoni on 16th anniversary in cricket

But, little did we know that it was just a blip before a Dhoni-sized juggernaut would take over Indian cricket. As Dhoni completed 16 years in international cricket on Wednesday, his fans on Twitter poured in with posts to pay tribute to the man who changed the dynamics of Indian cricket with his exceptional cricketing skills. Several reactions poured in as fans expressed how they missed the veteran stumper and in no time, Dhoni's name started trending on Twitter. Here's a look at a few reactions.

Dhoni announced his retirement from international cricket on August 15, thereby calling it a day on a glorious career. Dhoni, who called it quits from the longest format of the game in 2014, decided to hang his boots from the limited-overs formats as well for India. Dhoni announced his retirement through a video on Instagram, which featured the top moments of his cricketing journey since making his debut in 2004. He captioned the video, "Thanks. Thanks a lot for ur love and support throughout. From 1929 hrs consider me as Retired."

Shortly after announcing his retirement, Dhoni was in action in the Dream11 IPL 2020 for Chennai franchise. Dhoni made his first competitive appearance in more than a year for Chennai in the Dream11 IPL 2020 opening match against Mumbai. His last competitive match before playing in the IPL was the ICC Cricket World Cup 2019 semi-final against New Zealand where the Men in Blue were knocked out of the tournament by the Kiwis.

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Dhoni's comeback to competitive cricket, however, had a rather anti-climatic end. The Chennai franchise got off to a solid start in the competition as they comprehensively beat defending champions Mumbai in the tournament opener. But after the first game, thing mostly went against the Men in Yellow. Chennai were one of the favourites going into the tournament but their performances in the competition were extremely disappointing.

The Chennai IPL team, who finished their campaign at the penultimate position on the points table, could only win six of their 14 matches, with three of them coming in their last three matches after they had bowed out of the tournament. Except a couple of youngsters in the form of Sam Curran and youngster Ruturaj Gaikwad during the end of the tournament, none of their players played consistent cricket which led to their downfall. This was also the first time that the Chennai franchise failed to make it to the playoffs of the competition.

Dhoni IPL 2020 price

MS Dhoni made his IPL debut for the Chennai team in the inaugural edition of the tournament (2008). Since 2008, the veteran has contested all 12 IPL seasons (between 2008 and 2019). While MS Dhoni spent the majority of those 12 seasonal camps in Chennai, he also played for Rising Pune Supergiant in 2016 and 2017.

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During the IPL 2020 trading and transfer window, the Chennai franchise retained the cricketer for the much-awaited 13th edition of the tournament. The MS Dhoni IPL salary, cumulative of all 13 seasons, places him among some of the highest-paid cricketers of the cash-rich T20 league. As per his performance across IPL auctions and trading windows, the MS Dhoni IPL salary amounts to approximately ₹137.84 crore (US$18.4 million). The Dhoni IPL 2020 price was ₹15 crore.

MS Dhoni net worth

According to caknowledge.com, the MS Dhoni net worth figure is estimated to be ₹760 crore (US$101 million) as of March 2020. This MS Dhoni net worth figure comprises of his earnings from the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) as an active Indian cricket player. The aforementioned MS Dhoni net worth also includes his salary from participating in IPL for Chennai.

MS Dhoni also earns money through numerous endorsement deals and through his various business ventures. The cricketer is the co-owner of a popular Hockey India League team Ranchi Rays. He also co-owns Chennaiyin FC, a football club from Indian Super League. Additionally, the esteemed wicketkeeper-batsman is associated in brand endorsement deals with Orient Electric, Snickers, Indigo Paints among several others.

Disclaimer: The above MS Dhoni net worth information is sourced from various websites and media reports. The website does not guarantee a 100% accuracy of the figures.

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SOURCE: ICC TWITTER