Nine years back, famed champion MS Dhoni ended his Test career. The date was December 30, 2014. The setting was the well-known Melbourne Cricket Ground, during the third Test of the 2014-15 Border-Gavaskar Trophy series in Australia.
MS Dhoni was the captain in his career’s final Test. The Aussie captain, Steve Smith, won the coin toss and went first in the 2014 Boxing Day Test. Steve Smith (192) shone brightly, hitting an impressive century. His efforts helped Australia reach a robust total of 530.
Chris Rogers, Shane Watson, Ryan Harris, and Brad Haddin all hit scores over fifty. Mohammed Shami bagged four wickets, and Umesh Yadav and Ashwin claimed three each when they bowled.
Virat Kohli (169) and Ajinkya Rahane (147), took a proactive approach. Both scored tons of runs enabling India’s solid follow-up in their intitial batting innings.
Team India reached 465 thanks to the duo’s and Murali Vijay’s (68) efforts, giving the hosts a 65-run advantage. Dhoni scored 11 (23) in his last Test innings before being removed by Ryan Harris. Shaun Marsh (99) and Chris Rogers (69) batted strongly in Australia’s second innings, taking them to 318/9 when Steve Smith opted to declare.
India then reached 174/6 in 66 overs on the final day in pursuit of 384 before the two leaders shook hands to conclude the match in a draw with four overs remaining. MS Dhoni (24) and Ravichandran Ashwin (8) led India to a comfortable draw at the close of play.
A look at MS Dhoni’s numbers in Test cricket
In 2005, MS Dhoni first played Test cricket. It happened at Chennai’s Chepauk Stadium, and Sri Lanka was the opponent. Dhoni’s Test career included 90 games. He racked up 4876 runs during those matches. His average score was 38.09. He reached 100 runs six times and 50 runs 33 times. His best scoring game was his 224- run feat against Australia. It occurred in Chennai during the initial Test of the BGT 2012-13 series. This score was his top personal achievement in red-ball cricket.
