ICC Awards 2020: MS Dhoni wins 'Spirit of Cricket Award of the Decade' for THIS gesture

With his retirement in August 2020, MS Dhoni left a long-lasting cricketing legacy behind him. Bounding on to the Indian cricket scene in 2004-05, Dhoni has left an indelible mark on Indian cricket in a career spanning 16 years. In that time, not only has the former Indian skipper won accolades for his playing and keeping skills, but also for the spirit in which he played the game. Dhoni's gesture of recalling Ian Bell after a runout at Trent Bridge in 2010, has been chosen for the "ICC Spirit of Cricket Award of the Decade" at the ICC Awards 2020.

Also Read | ICC Awards 2020: ICC Picks MS Dhoni Captain Of T20I Team Of The Decade; Rohit Sharma, Bumrah In XI

MS Dhoni Spirit of Cricket Award: The Trent Bridge incident 

India were in England in July of 2010. MS Dhoni and Co. had lost the first Test by a massive 196 runs and on Day 3 of the 2nd Test had already relinquished the slim lead they had won in their first innings. While India had cleaned up the openers cheaply, the pair of Ian Bell and Eoin Morgan had fixed themselves in the middle and were scoring at an alarming pace. This was the background to one of the most fondly remembered acts of sportsmanship in the game.

Also Read | Ajinkya Rahane's Gesture Towards Ravindra Jadeja Wins Hearts; Watch

Some carelessness and confusion had led to centurion Ian Bell walking down the pitch for a chat with Morgan after taking three runs. The pair believed that Morgan had hit the ball for a boundary, rendering the ball dead. On the boundary, however,  Praveen Kumar had cleanly collected the ball and thrown it to Abhinav Mukund, who took off the bails and appealed for a run-out. By then, the batsmen were almost off the field and had to be stopped by the umpires while the appeal was reviewed by the third umpire. 

The replay showed that since the ball had not crossed the boundary, it was still very much in play and Bell was fairly deemed run out at 137. However, when the teams walked out again, it was in fact Bell and Morgan who came on - Dhoni had approached the team and had withdrawn India's appeal. There was much talk of this gesture in the coming weeks and it eventually won Dhoni the ICC Spirit of Cricket Award for 2011. India went on to lose the match by 319 runs - and the series 0-4. 

Also Read | Aakash Chopra, Wasim Jaffer Take Witty Digs At MS Dhoni-led ICC's T20I Team Of The Decade

MS Dhoni awards under the ICC

Dhoni was adjudged as the ICC ODI Player of the Year in 2008 and 2009. He was a part of the ICC World ODI XI in 2006, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013 and 2014 and the ICC World Test XI in 2009, 2010 and 2013. This year, Dhoni has bagged all the top honours again, with inclusions in the Men's ODI and T20I Teams of the Decade, of which he has also been named captain and keeper. 

Also Read | MS Dhoni Becomes Top Twitter Trend, Fans Miss Icon On 16th Anniversary In Cricket

Image Credits: ICC

Video Credits: Luke Frost Youtube