MS Dhoni's first stumping victim proud of his achievement

On Sunday, former Indian skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni achieved a feat which no other player has been able to do. The Indian stumper became the first wicketkeeper in the history of ODIs to affect 100 stumpings. This unique record was created at the R Premadasa Stadium in Colombo where Indian played the 5th ODI match of the series against Sri Lanka. Dhoni’s 100th stumping’s victim was Akila Dananjaya, whose bails were knocked off the bowling of Yuzvendra Chahal.

Dhoni’s first stumping

Back in 2004, nobody would have dared to believe that the long-haired lad from Jharkhand will achieve such an extraordinary feat. 13 years ago, MS Dhoni announced his arrival as a lightning-fast wicketkeeper, against whom batsmen would think twice before dancing down the track to spinners. In the final game of the 3-match ODI series against Bangladesh, the Men in Blue were battling it out in Dhaka.

Opening with partner Nasif Iqbal, Rajin Saleh was inching closer to an international ton, when Sachin Tendulkar was given the ball. India had already put up a massive target of 347, but banking on Saleh’s knock, Bangladesh were still in the game. Saleh thought of smashing Tendulkar for brownie returns, but couldn’t make any connection with the ball.

Not that Saleh was far away from his crease, but a certain young wicket-keeper named Dhoni knocked off the bails before anyone else could react, thereby inflicting his first ODI stumping. Dhoni later went on to lead India and give them prestigious trophies like World Cup, World Cup T20 and Champions Trophy. Putting memory to work, Rajen Saleh said: “To me, Dhoni is nothing short of a legend and his feat has made me feel very proud.”

Rajin was surprised by Dhoni’s speed

For a wicketkeeper who has not stumped any batsmen previously, Saleh was spellbound by the speed of Dhoni’s glove work. “I was surprised to realize that Dhoni had got me stumped with such speed. I was disappointed at not getting a hundred because I was batting so well that day. As I said, I was striking the ball well against an opposition which included my heroes like Tendulkar and Sourav Ganguly. It was a full strength Indian team and it’s a match I even talk to my son about,” concluded Rajin, as per reports in mid-day.com.

Watch Dhoni’s first ODI stumping here