VIDEO | MS Dhoni castles Travis Dowlin with ‘military medium’ to claim first ODI wicket
Dowling turned out to be Dhoni's only scalp in international cricket
|MS Dhoni might be now a Lieutenant Colonel of the Indian army, but two years before he was honored with the prestigious rank, in 2009, with some ‘military medium’, he embarrassed Windies’ Travis Dowlin. A sharp nip-backer from Dhoni rattled the stumps as he claimed his first international wicket.
After a disappointing outing in the 2009 World T20, where they finished bottom of the table in the Super eights stage, India suffered yet another exit in the group stages of the 2009 Champions Trophy in South Africa. A string of unfavourable results - India losing to Pakistan, Pakistan losing to Australia and India-Australia ending in no result - meant that the Men in Blue were knocked out of the competition mid-way through their final group game versus the Windies at the Wanderers, but well before their fate was sealed, Indian skipper MS Dhoni decided to take the mickey - by bringing himself into the attack.
With the Windies reeling at 49/4, Dhoni decided to give the gloves to Dinesh Karthik and brought himself into the attack. No one knew what to expect of his bowling, but the first two balls were beyond appalling - two long-hops outside off which were dispatched to the boundary on either side of the wicket by Dowlin. However, it was what happened on the fourth ball that would go on to scar Dowlin for the rest of his life and give Dhoni a moment to cherish till his last breath.
Having delivered two atrocious long-hops and an okayish full one in the first three deliveries, Dhoni’s golden arm produced magic on the fourth. The wicket-keeper ran in and delivered a good-length delivery in and around the corridor of uncertainty and misjudging the length, Dowlin, who was neither on the front foot nor on the back, put in a half-hearted stride and attempted to dig the ball into the ground. But to Dowlin’s absolute horror, however, the ball nipped back in sharply and took the inside edge of his bat and clattered on to the stumps.
Realizing the magnitude of what he’d just done, Dhoni celebrated with an innocent smile almost in disbelief and, in no time, he was mobbed by his teammates who couldn’t believe what had happened either. The Indian contingent at the stadium, too, went berserk as the batsman Dowlin walked back to the pavilion in horror, knowing very well that this was going to be a moment for which he was going to be remembered for the rest of his life.
It turned out to be the only wicket of Dhoni’s international career and, ironically, it was the wicket-keeper’s bowling which brought joy to what was a dismal campaign for his Indian side. You bet Dhoni would have watched this footage at least a hundred times over the course of these last 11 years.