The great MS Dhoni graced cricket grounds all over the world with his brilliance - and his appearances at Edgbaston saw his talents tower as both batsman as captain.
Across the formats over the years, Dhoni played ten games for India in Birmingham and those matches included one great day for his side…and one great occasion for England.
The latter arrived when Dhoni made his only Test appearance at Edgbaston, in August 2011. It was a match in which, as so often over the years, the venue and its unique atmosphere lifted England’s players to remarkable heights.
India arrived with a mighty team but departed beaten by an innings and 242 runs – a result, sealed by future Bears bowler Tim Bresnan who took the last wicket, which secured England’s rise to the top of the world rankings.
Alastair Cook piled up 294 and India were outplayed, though the quality of Dhoni resonated even in that crushing defeat. He top-scored in each innings, scoring 77 out of 224 in the first innings and an unbeaten 74 out of 244 in the second.
Dohni’s record at Edgbaston in One-Day International is steller with six wins from eight games.
A much happier occasion for the great man, and a heart-breaking one for England, arrived in 2013 when India, having already beaten great rivals Pakistan in the group stages, locked horns with the home team in the ICC Champions Trophy final.
After rain reduced the match to 20 overs per side, for a long time it looked like England would triumph. They restricted India to 129 for seven and then advanced to the threshold of victory at 110 for three with 21 balls left and Eoin Morgan and Ravi Bopara going well.
But Dhoni did not panic. Orchestrating his field cleverly, he squeezed the batsmen and cranked up the pressure. Ishant Sharma dismissed Morgan and Bopara with successive balls, England lost four wickets for three runs in seven balls and India won by five runs.
Devastation for England and their coach Ashley Giles…for India further proof of the intelligence, composure and all-round class of the great MS Dhoni.
