MS Dhoni rendezvous with Zimbabwe, after a decade

MS Dhoni was playing his first ODI against Zimbabwe in 10 years, he last played them in August 2005.

Yet again, India ODI captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni sealed a match with a six. This time at the receiving end was Zimbabwe. It was quite a fitting end to yet another fantastic innings in a high-pressured chase for Dhoni.(Full Coverage| Venues | Fixtures)

Only thing that was unique about this effort was that Dhoni was playing his first ODI against Zimbabwe in 10 years!

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The last time Dhoni played against Zimbabwe was in August 2005, in what turned out to be the last stint as a captain for Sourav Ganguly. That tour to Zimbabwe was also witness to the now famous battle between Ganguly and the then coach Greg Chappell. Dhoni was not a member of the Test squad when the fight erupted, but he was very much witness to the start of the fight during the ODI tri-series, also featuring New Zealand.

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That tour in 2005 was also a complete tour by an Indian team to Zimbabwe. After that as Zimbabwe pulled out of Test cricket, India concentrated on playing the big boys. It was quite an interesting turn of events considering that between 1996 to 2005, India played Zimbabwe almost every year. India did tour Zimbabwe again, in 2010 and 2013, for limited-overs engagements. Dhoni opted out of both tours as Suresh Raina and Virat Kohli led India’s young squads.

On Saturday in Auckland, Dhoni showed that he had not lost the touch that catapulted him into a nation’s conscience in 2005.

In all Dhoni has now played three ODIs over ten years against Zimbabwe with a total of 208 runs at an average of 208! His scores of 56, 67 not out and now 85 not out underline his supremacy over Zimbabwe.

Source:: Indian Express