It was the night before Diwali in Jaipur in the autumn of 2005 and Jaipur like most of the cities in India were decked up preparing for the ‘festival of lights’. India and Sri Lankan team were in town ahead of Diwali during their on-going seven-match ODI series. Rahul Dravid-led Indian side was already up 2-0 in the series against Sri Lanka side captained by Marvan Atapattu before landing in Jaipur.
It was an era where sending pinch-hitter to the top of the order was not uncommon in ODI cricket although it would be unfair to call former India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni a pinch-hitter by any means. Yours truly had landed up in Jaipur a couple of days before the ODI as a rookie reporter covering the clash for a national daily. My Sports Editor back then had advised me to observe the practice sessions closely on the eve of the ODI match and I did the same focusing my attention on the big guns like Sachin Tendulkar, Virender Sehwag, Rahul Dravid, Yuvraj Singh, and even Sanath Jayasuriya from the Lankan camp.
However, from the corner of my eye I could see a batsman with long-flowing mane – Dhoni – smashing some of the biggest long-balls that Sawai Mansingh (SMS) Stadium’s practice areas had ever seen. The balls frequently ended up on top of the tent-like structures erected to provide shade to the spectators on match-day.
In 2005 in the ODI series v Sri Lanka, Dhoni was promoted up the order when he scored 183* in Jaipur. This is still the highest individual score by a wicket-keeper in ODIs. #ThankYouMSDhoni pic.twitter.com/xo30ePKwjf
— BCCI (@BCCI) August 16, 2020
Dhoni had given a glimpse of hitting prowess in the first ODI in Nagpur in the series, smashing 38 off 28 balls but skipper Dravid had stolen the show there by clobbering 85 off 63 balls. The hitting prowess of Jharkhand wicketkeeper was well known as Dhoni had already notched up his maiden ODI century at Visakhapatnam against Pakistan in the last season.
Match-day was ‘Choti Diwali’ in Jaipur and the third ODI was a day-fixture as SMS Stadium didn’t have floodlights back then. A Kumar Sangakkara century helped the visiting Lankans pile up an impressive 298/4 after batting first. India came out to chase with Sehwag and Tendulkar in the middle but five balls into the innings, there was pin-drop silence in the stadium as Tendulkar edged Chaminda Vaas through to the keeper.
Dravid and coach Greg Chappell decided to once again send in Dhoni to the No. 3 position. What Jaipur and the world witnessed on that day off the willow of Dhoni was unparalleled and never again replicated. The former India captain treated every single Sri Lankan bowler with disdain, smashing 10 mammoth sixes and 15 fours in an unbeaten knock of 183 off 145 balls – which remained Dhoni’s highest ODI score till his retirement on August 15, 2020.
The Jaipur crowd which had given him a silent treatment while walking into the middle – since Tendulkar had been dismissed cheaply – were chanting ‘Mahi, Mahi’ by the time he walked off the field. He reached his 50 in mere 40 balls with six fours and three sixes and reached his second ODI hundred in 85 balls with 10 fours and 5 massive sixes. It was quite appropriate that he also finished the match off with a massive six over midwicket.
#OnThisDay in 2005: MS Dhoni scored 183* (145) v Sri Lanka at Jaipur. This is still the highest score by a wicketkeeper in ODIs. Interestingly this was the 1st instance in ODIs when wicketkeepers from both the teams hit tons in an ODI: Sangakkara hit 138*pic.twitter.com/JSpdjEAVSy
— Sarang Bhalerao (@bhaleraosarang) October 31, 2020
While everyone remembers his brilliant knock, people tend to forget that Dhoni battled a bout of cramps through the innings after reaching 130 in the 32nd over of the chase. Dhoni had kept wickets under the scorching Jaipur heat and batted majority of the 46 overs of the Indian chase.
“The most important thing for me was to stay in the middle and score the winning runs. I had kept wickets for 50 overs and then batted for about 46 overs, so I was struggling with cramps. But (John) Gloster’s supplements did a good job and helped a lot,” Dhoni told us reporters during the press conference after the game.
“The main aim was play right till the end and score the winning runs. While I was batting with Rahul (Dravid), we decided that Murali (Muttiah Muralitharan) was their best bowler and we decided to take singles off his bowling,” Dhoni said about his strategy during the knock.
Skipper Dravid compared the knock to Tendulkar’s Sharjah ‘Desert Storm’ on that day after the match. “It was a fantastic innings and I felt privileged to watch it. The innings was probably at par with Sachin’s centuries scored at Sharjah,” Dravid had said on that day.
For me personally, it was like hitting a ‘century on debut’ to witness one of the all-time greatest knocks in your first match as a cricket reporter. Thank you MS Dhoni, for a memory of a lifetime.
