The Legacy of Mahendra Singh Dhoni is almost untouched. He is not only known as one of the best wicketkeeper-batters but one of the greatest leaders as well. Dhoni is the only captain to win all three major trophies for his nation and has taken the team to new heights. There has not been an Indian captain who has enjoyed the same successful years as Dhoni for a long time now. With big titles and over 17000 international runs, Dhoni has had a great career spanning 15 years.
However, despite the successful record, there also comes some major backlash as well. We just heard a controversial statement from Manoj Tiwary questioning the 2011 World champion on his being dropped from the side. There were still many players who have made some controversial statements about the former India skipper as well. What is surprising is that these players were also part of some of the successful years along with Dhoni in those times as well.
So, here are the 3 cricketers who made controversial statements about MS Dhoni after retirement:
3. Virender Sehwag
There was no doubt that Virender Sehwag was one of the most successful openers for India. Apart from the big innings he has scored, Sehwag was also part of the triumphant 2007 T20 World Cup and 2011 ODI World Cup under Dhoni. There was still a controversy between the two with Sehwag unhappy with the way Dhoni was rotating the players around. Then came a statement saying Dhoni was excluding the senior players because they were slow fielders. This caused a lot of drama between Dhoni and the Nawab of Najafgarh.
2. Gautam Gambhir
Just like Sehwag even Gautam Gambhir was part of some of the greatest moments in Indian cricket. His knocks in the finals in 2007 and 2011 are still remembered to this day. The controversy started when Gautam Gambhir stated “ It’s unfortunate that when we talk about the 2007 and 2011 World Cups, we don’t take Yuvraj Singh’s name.” There were further things added to the statement where Gambhir totally sidelined MS Dhoni from those successful tournaments saying that it is all a PR stunt and one man cannot win you big trophies.
1. Harbhajan Singh
Harbhajan Singh is perhaps one of the best-off spinners India produced in the early 2000s, 'The Turbanator' has over 700 international wickets and has given some iconic performances in the big World Cups. Bhaji just like Tiwary had challenged Dhoni for dropping him saying “ I was 31 when I picked up my 400th Test wicket, and if a 31-year-old can pick up 400 wickets, then in the next eight-nine years, I feel I could have taken at least a hundred more.” With this statement, Bhaji also added to say how can a player who has taken over 400 Test wickets just dropped so mysteriously and insinuated that Dhoni was responsible for this outcome.