'Once in a generation, a player connects with a nation' - Virender Sehwag pays tribute to MS Dhoni on his birthday

MS Dhoni’s journey in international cricket is nothing less than a fairytale. No one could have imagined that a young boy from Ranchi would go on to become one of the most decorated skippers in the history of Indian cricket.

The wicketkeeper-batsman has achieved unprecedented heights of success during the course of his career. Be it his agile wicketkeeping, crucial batting knocks or tactical leadership– Dhoni truly set benchmarks for the generations to come.

Dhoni is the first and so far the only skipper to have won all the ICC tournaments– 2007 T20 World Cup, 2011 50-over World Cup and 2013 Champions Trophy. He even was the first captain to lead the side to the top of ICC Test rankings.

Considering his illustrious career and contribution to Indian cricket, Dhoni’s fan-following across the globe in phenomenal. The magnitude of Dhoni’s staggering popularity was evident when a plethora of wishes flooded in on the occasion of his 39th birthday. Dhoni, on July 7, turned 39 and wishes and tributes have been pouring in from all corners from the world.

Social media was flooded with birthday wishes for MS Dhoni

The former Indian skipper received wishes from many prominent faces of Indian cricket. Many former and current Team India players extended birthday wishes to the Ranchi stalwart.

Former India opener Virender Sehwag also paid a fitting tribute to Dhoni and termed him as ‘once in a generation’ player. “Once in a generation, a player comes and a nation connects with him, think of him as a member of their family, kuch bahut apna sa lagta hai. Happy Birthday to a man who is the world ( Dhoni-ya ) for his many admirers. #HappyBirthdayDhoni,” tweeted Sehwag.

Once in a generation, a player comes and a nation connects with him, think of him as a member of their family, kuch bahut apna sa lagta hai. Happy Birthday to a man who is the world ( Dhoni-ya ) for his many admirers. #HappyBirthdayDhoni pic.twitter.com/T9Bj7G32BI

— Virender Sehwag (@virendersehwag) July 7, 2020

Apart from Sehwag, many members of the cricketing fraternity including current India skipper Virat Kohli wished Dhoni on his special day.

Dhoni has donned the Indian jersey in 90 Tests, 348 ODIs and 98 T20Is. He has scored more than 10,000 ODI runs and over 4000 runs in Test cricket. However, his last appearance for the Men in Blue came in 2019 during India’s semi-final defeat against New Zealand.

He took a sabbatical post the showpiece event, giving rise to his retirement speculations. Dhoni was set to return back to the field by leading CSK in the thirteenth edition of the IPL. However, due to the indefinite postponement of the much-awaited tournament, ardent Dhoni fans have to wait for a while to see him brace the field again.