Ever since MS Dhoni and Suresh Raina announced their retirement from international cricket, the ICC’s social media handles have paid their tributes to the iconic duo. Particularly for MS Dhoni, ICC has been sharing some of the best moments of the cricketer’s career.
In their latest post featuring MS Dhoni, ICC compared the former Indian captain with retired cricketer Ricky Ponting. However, the post seems to have backfired, as Indian fans mercilessly trolled ICC for the comparison.
ICC Pay Tribute MS Dhoni And Ricky Ponting
MS Dhoni and Ricky Ponting as captains:
? 655 matches
✔️ 397 wins
? Three @cricketworldcup titles
?️ Three Champions Trophy titles
⭐ One @T20WorldCup titleTwo of the greatest ? leaders of all time! pic.twitter.com/7UDUqVPU4O
— ICC (@ICC) August 18, 2020
Taking to social media, ICC posted a picture of Ricky Ponting and MS Dhoni. In the picture shared by ICC, Ricky Ponting is seen batting while MS Dhoni is keeping behind the stumps during the ICC World Cup 2011 quarter-final between India and Australia at Ahmedabad. In the caption, ICC paid tribute to the duo’s leadership qualities by mentioning their record as captains.
ICC stated that in 655 matches as captains, the duo registered 397 wins. Not only that, but collectively MS Dhoni and Ricky Ponting led India and Australia to three World Cup titles, three Champions Trophy titles and a solitary T20 World Cup win. The post concluded with ICC stating that MS Dhoni and Ricky Ponting are two of cricket’s greatest leaders of all time.
Dhoni Retirement: Fans Troll ICC For Ponting Comparison
And Dhoni won these trophies with the likes of Ishant, Munaf, Joginder while Ponting with one of the best bowling attack of cricket history. Here the captaincy works ✌️
— Pradhumn – #ThankYouDhoni (@pradhumn_pratap) August 18, 2020
ICC Trophies – 4 Ponting and 3 Dhoni… but again..Dhoni won those trophies with the players like Munaf Patel and Joginder Sharma
— Devesh Mishra (@twittodev) August 18, 2020
While the post was intentioned to celebrate the captaincy records of the two cricketing greats, fans were quick to troll ICC for comparing MS Dhoni with Ricky Ponting. Several Indian fans pointed out that it is incorrect to compare Ricky Ponting and MS Dhoni’s captaincy records, as the former Australian captain predominantly led a much stronger and skilled team than Dhoni.
One fan even pointed out how MS Dhoni managed to win titles with players like Joginder Sharma and Munaf Patel, while Ricky Ponting had one of the best bowling attacks at his disposal. Fans also praised MS Dhoni for building a great team and integrating youngsters, while they criticised Ricky Ponting for failing to keep his legacy alive after his retirement. Some fans even tweeted about how MS Dhoni is the only captain to win all the ICC tournaments.
I feel Dhoni achieved much more than Ricky….none captain gave everything to a country….Ricky's era was till 2007…after that legends retired as there was no influence of ricky's captaincy
— Cricket Blogs ✍ (@BlogsCricket) August 18, 2020
Soon after MS Dhoni’s retirement news came to light, Ricky Ponting took to Twitter to pay tribute to the cricketer. Ponting wrote that he enjoyed every contest with MS Dhoni, and now he will focus on finding ways to stop him winning against Delhi Capitals. Notably, Ricky Ponting is the coach of IPL 2020 team Delhi Capitals and will face off against MS Dhoni’s CSK in this year’s edition of the tournament.
Pointing the team was set and was given MSD changed Indian team … better just saying
— vijay (@vijay55978048) August 18, 2020
