Bengaluru, March 24: Back in , multiple Olympic and world champion Usain Bolt of Jamaica had wowed the fans at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium here, both with his sprint and cricket skills. And last night (March 23), Indian supporters experienced a Bolt-like moment at the same venue, thanks to Mahendra Singh Dhoni.
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Bolt, hailed as the greatest sprinter of all time, has won 6 Olympic gold medals and 11 world titles. He is also the world record holder in 100 metres (9.58 seconds), 200 metres (19.19 seconds) and 4x100 metres relay (36.84 seconds).
The Jamaican is the fastest man on the planet at the moment. But in cricket, still the verdict is not out on who is the quickest. Some might install South African AB de Villiers but there are many Indians closely behind. (Dhoni loses cool at scribe)
One of the Indian names in that list is Dhoni. Always known for his quick running between the wickets and also lightning speed glovework behind the stumps, the skipper once again showed he still has a lot of cricket left even at 34.
On Wednesday night, Dhoni first had Bangladesh opener Tamim Iqbal stumped off Ravindra Jadeja as the visitors were chasing 146 in a Group 2 Super 10 stage match of ICC World Twenty20. It was an easy one by Dhoni's standards.
Dhoni was again in the thick of the things when he smartly stumped Sabbir Rahman off Suresh Raina. Dhoni took the ball from the legside (wide ball) and was quick to spot the batsman going off balance and taking his foot off the crease. It was one of the best stumpings.
But the most memorable moment from Dhoni arrived on the final delivery of the game.
With 2 runs needed off the final ball bowled by Hardik Pandya, Dhoni removed his right glove but only had inners. Anticipating that the batsmen would steal a bye to tie the match, Dhoni stood there.
As Pandya bowled a bit wide outside offstump, Shuvagata Hom missed to make contact. Dhoni gathered the ball quickly and instead of aiming at the stumps from his position, he ran like Bolt to break the stumps, finding Mustafizur Rahman short of the crease.
It required third umpire's decision to signal "OUT" on the giant screen as nearly 40,000 spectators and the Indian players on the ground, erupted in joy.
But much before the TV umpire's decision, Dhoni was seen telling his team-mates "OUT". The Indian side won by 1 run, snatching victory from the jaws of defeat. The last three balls saw 3 wickets.
On a hot and humid Wednesday night, "Captain Cool" Dhoni did a Bolt to give India a famous run out which will forever be remembered.
Fans and players were left wondering how fast did Dhoni run?
The scenes in the crowd from that last ball.. Incredible reaction! #IND #BAN #WT20 pic.twitter.com/hE5Ywh0CLF
— ICC (@ICC) March 23, 2016
Is @hardikpandya7's composed final ball to win v #BAN your #WT20 Play of the Day?
— ICC (@ICC) March 24, 2016
VOTE at https://t.co/omsDy1R5hV pic.twitter.com/HEctgBaltn
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