Not just the pavilion, whole stadium should have been called MS Dhoni stadium: Sunil Gavaskar

It would not be entirely wrong to say that MS Dhoni is mainly responsible to bring Ranchi or even Jharkhand on the cricketing map. Considered as the backwaters of cricket, Jharkhand was mainly famous for hockey players in the last century as well as the early 2000s. However, its reputation and image changed for the better once Dhoni started showcasing his talent on the international stage.

The inspirational story of Dhoni’s journey from a ticket-collector to one of the greatest-ever cricketers has carved out a special place in the Indian cricket history. Dhoni’s achievements in the game are unparalleled. Considered as the greatest finishers of all time, the 37-year old has scored over 10,000 runs in ODIs at a remarkable average of over 50. His captaincy record is even more impressive.

Dhoni is one of the most successful captains in the history of the game. Till date, he is the only skipper to have won all the ICC trophies – the World T20, the World Cup and the Champions Trophy. He was also the captain when India reached the pinnacle of Test cricket for the first time towards the end of the last decade. No surprises then that the boy-wonder from Ranchi has managed to make his state famous across the world.

And the state recently came up with a beautiful gesture to pay tribute to their beloved son. The Jharkhand State Cricket Association named one of the stands in Ranchi’s JSCA Stadium after MS Dhoni. The stand was inaugurated before the third ODI between India and Australia.

Name the stadium after Dhoni:

Well, former Indian skipper Sunil Gavaskar feels that JSCA should name not only the stand but the entire stadium after Dhoni in a bid to give a ‘fitting tribute to their beloved son’. Gavaskar made the comment while commentating during the game.

It was during the 46th over of the match when Sanjay Manjrekar asked Gavaskar in the commentary box, “Coming from a small town and leading an Indian team full of Superstars. Tendulkar, Dravid everyone played under him. MS Dhoni pavilion, What’s the stadium called?”

In reply, Gavaskar said that naming the entire stadium in honour of Dhoni would be the ultimate tribute to the former India skipper.

“Good question, now that the pavilion is named after Dhoni, the stadium can be called after some national figure I guess. I don’t know which national/international figure in Ranchi is bigger than MSD. If anything, this stadium should have been called Mahendra Singh Dhoni Stadium, not just the pavilion whole stadium should have been called MS Dhoni stadium. That would have been the ultimate tribute from Ranchi to their beloved son,” said Gavaskar.

India, meanwhile, lost the third ODI by 32 runs. Chasing 314, India were all out for 281 despite Virat Kohli scoring 123.

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