23rd March at Queen's Park Oval was one of the worst moments to be a cricket fan in India. India's golden generation of players had just been knocked out of the Group Stages and a rejig of the players and more importantly, their attitudes seemed imminent.

Out they went and in walked a young boy from Ranchi, with long hair and an icy cool head who was handed the reigns of the team. The tournament began on 11th September and the first game was washed out. What unraveled next was beyond anyone's imaginations and expectations. Within just two weeks, India had become World Champions- with the likes of Joginder Sharma and Rohit Sharma no less.

This marked the beginning of a rekindling of Indian cricket, one which culminated in a Test Mace, the Champions Trophy, and the summit of World Cricket- the 50 Overs World Cup. The reason behind this resurgence was none other than MSD, the man whose cricketing brilliance was paralleled by none.

Born in Ranchi, Dhoni was initially a goalkeeper for his school team but he was spotted by the coach of the cricket team, who was incidentally looking for a keeper in his team. Dhoni obliged after some convincing and the rest, as they say, is history.

His journey to the top was difficult- financial crunch and lack of contacts in the higher echelons of the cricketing world meant that he had to toil hard for everything. In all his endeavours, however, his friends and family stayed stuck with him.

The much-anticipated debut finally came against Bangladesh in 2005 but ended horribly; he was run out for a duck and it seemed like fate was playing a cruel game with him. Named in the team for the next series against Pakistan, the selectors' trust in him was repaid almost immediately.

After the fiasco of the 2007 World Cup, he was put in charge of a radical overhaul of the team. Dhoni's purge of legends of the team was criticised at first and he was hounded for it. All the noise went away very soon as the new team won the CB series in Australia and the whole nation was behind MS now.

Fast forward to four years later; when he walked onto the Wankhede pitch on 2nd April 2011, there was little expected of him. MSD had had a dismal run-in to the tournament and an average World Cup up till this point. He had just promoted himself ahead of Yuvraj Singh, who was in sublime form. Everyone was bewildered at the decision and it seemed like the Lankans would run away with the cup. It seemed like the 27 years of wait for the World Cup wasn't going to end.

He tried to get his eye in and threw caution to the wind for the first few deliveries. When he finally got settled on the pitch, he tore the bowlers apart one cut and pull at a time. As Nuwan Kulasekara steamed in to bowl with victory in sight, the ball was deposited in the stands with utter disregard. Dhoni held his pose for a moment, trying to soak in the magnanimity of what had just been achieved. A twirl of the bat and a mighty emotional hug from Yuvraj later, it finally sunk in. An ordinary boy from Ranchi had led India to its second-ever World Cup.

His legacy was tainted by the drubbings in Australia and England but he still stands head and shoulder over everyone who has ever had the privilege afforded to him. In the August of 2020, he retired with a cryptic post and an emotional video that melted everyone's hearts. MSD, characteristic of the man he was, went out as quietly and gracefully as he came in.