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Updated June 16th, 2021 at 13:27 IST

Virat Kohli set to feature in his first major ICC final without MS Dhoni during WTC clash

Virat Kohli will be featuring in his first major ICC final without MS Dhoni as India face New Zealand in the ICC WTC final in Southampton on Friday.

Reported by: Karthik Nair
Virat Kohli, MS Dhoni
Image Courtesy: Twitter@ImVKohli | Image:self
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Indian skipper Virat Kohli will be leading his team from the front in the upcoming ICC WTC final against New Zealand at Southampton's Ageas Rose Bowl this Friday. As Virat Kohli, gears up to lead his troops in a couple of days' time, this will also be the first instance where MS Dhoni will not be featuring in a major ICC tournament final.

Team India's first major ICC final without MS Dhoni

It was MS Dhoni that took Indian Cricket to unattained heights when he was handed over the captaincy reigns back in 2007 as he led Team India to a T20 World Cup triumph in the inaugural edition of the tournament where the Men In Blue overcame arch-rivals Pakistan in an edge-of-the-seat thriller by five runs. 

Four years later, it was MSD once again who successfully anchored the Indian chase with an unbeaten 91 in the ODI World Cup final against Sri Lanka for which he was also adjudged the Man of the Match. 

A couple of years later i.e. in 2013, 'Captain Cool' became the first captain in the history of the game to win all the major titles after leading India to a famous win in the Champions Trophy final. Mahi had also led Team India to the summit of the ICC Test rankings from 2009-2011.

Under MS Dhoni's reign, India also finished as the runners-up in T20 World Cup 2014 and were the semi-finalists of the World Cup 2015 as well as the T20 World Cup 2016 respectively. Meanwhile, Team India failed to reach the semis in the 2009, 2010 & 2012 editions of the World T20 and the 2009 edition of the Champions Trophy that was played in South Africa under the Ranchi cricketer's leadership.

After MS Dhoni stepped down as India's limited-overs captain in January 2017, he would go on to feature in two more ICC tournaments as a player- Champions Trophy 2017 & World Cup 2019.

While India lost to Pakistan in a one-sided contest by a mammoth 180 runs in the CT final, MS Dhoni along with Ravindra Jadeja kept the Men In Blues' hopes alive in the CWC 2019 semi-final against the dark horses New Zealand chasing a challenging total of 240. 

With 31 needed from the last two overs, the onus was on a well-set MS Dhoni to reduce Team India's deficit by milking maximum runs in the penultimate over and help the Men In Blue earn a place in the World Cup final at the 'Mecca of Cricket' Lord's. MS Dhoni did clobber Lockie Ferguson for a six off the very first delivery but then fell short of his crease the following delivery when he set off for a risky second run courtesy of a sharp throw from Martin Guptill.

The Indian resistance was cut short post his dismissal and it meant that they had to wait for another four years to win their third 50-overs World Cup trophy. The two-time world champions were bundled out for 221 as the Black Caps won the contest by 18 runs to qualify for their second consecutive World Cup final.

That was the final time MS Dhoni had donned the Indian jersey and more than 13 months later i.e. on August 15, 2020, he brought curtains down on his illustrious international cricketing career. 

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Published June 16th, 2021 at 13:27 IST

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