Captain cool is back as MS Dhoni is all set to lead the side against Afghanistan today. The openers and other key players have been rested and as the squad comprised the likes of KL Rahul and Manish Pandey.
This match marks his 200th appearance as a skipper in blue and thus becomes the first Asian captain to lead the side in numerous matches.
India had already qualified for finals of the Asia cup after defeating Pakistan on Sunday. It will be interesting how “thala” will recreate his magic as a skipper of the side after a period of 22 months.
During the toss, MS Dhoni stressed the importance of giving a chance to every player in the squad as that would aid them to perform better on a big stage. India, the defending champions of Asia cup is yet to lose a match in this tournament and MS Dhoni will be looking to continue the winning streak.
Twitter was seen in complete joy after the news and this is how it reacted to the news:
Guess who's turned up at the toss for #TeamIndia.
Afghanistan wins the toss and elects to bat first #INDvAFG pic.twitter.com/mwyKFN7VmS
— BCCI (@BCCI) September 25, 2018
#INDvAFG: MS Dhoni captaining India after two years against Afghanistan.
— ABP News (@ABPNews) September 25, 2018
MS Dhoni will captain India in ODIs for the 200th time#AsiaCup2018 #INDvAFG
— Sarang Bhalerao (@bhaleraosarang) September 25, 2018
At the age of 37 years and 80 days, MS Dhoni is India's oldest ODI captain.
Prev: Mohammad Azharuddin (36y 124d) vs New Zealand in CWC 1999. #INDvAFG #AsiaCup2018
— Sampath Bandarupalli (@SampathStats) September 25, 2018
MS Dhoni to captain India after 696 days, his 200th ODI as captain #INDvAFG https://t.co/SpFhckq1sR #AsiaCup pic.twitter.com/CPNVqFZ0el
— ESPNcricinfo (@ESPNcricinfo) September 25, 2018
200th ODI as captain! 😇
New day, different team, but that familiar face – MS Dhoni is back to lead the Indian cricket team! Watch him on Star Sports! #INDvAFG #KnockThemOut pic.twitter.com/qktsQkRIjh
— Star Sports (@StarSportsIndia) September 25, 2018
MS Dhoni becomes the first Asian to lead a team for 200 ODIs…
— Broken Cricket (@BrokenCricket) September 25, 2018
Afghanistan Won The Toss. Opted To Bat.
MS Dhoni Is Captain Today. After 2 Years. His 200th ODI As Captain
Manish Pandey Comes In For Rohit Sharma. Debut For Deepak Chahar
"All Players Who Are In Squad & Didn't Get Chance, Will Get Today"- #Dhoni #INDvAFG #INDvsAFG #AFGvIND pic.twitter.com/U9h6vnGTJY
— Sir Jadeja fan (@SirJadeja) September 25, 2018
Ms Dhoni will captain India today..Rohit will not play…Shocking news for all fantasy players.
— CricInformer (@CricInformer) September 25, 2018
5/11 players from CSK in the playing XI (Kedar Jadhav, Ambati Rayudu, Deepak Chahar & Ravindra Jadeja ) led by MS Dhoni. CSK team in the garb of team India?#INDvAFG #AsiaCup2018
— Deepu Narayanan (@deeputalks) September 25, 2018
https://twitter.com/saurabhmanjhi_/status/1044546594870243328?s=19
MS Dhoni – 200th ODI as Captain of #TeamIndia 😎#INDvAFG pic.twitter.com/4PWQNzVgiA
— BCCI (@BCCI) September 25, 2018
Captain Cool is back!
Some changes for India means Rohit Sharma rests and MS Dhoni once again takes the reins! His 200th ODI as captain.
He's lost the toss and Afghanistan are batting, while Deepak Chahar makes his debut.
#INDvAFG LIVE ⬇️https://t.co/QOBmNShq3d#AsiaCup pic.twitter.com/OUXFy0KsJ3
— ICC (@ICC) September 25, 2018
A big surprise at the toss – MS Dhoni is leading #TeamIndia today with Rohit and his deputy Dhawan both rested. #CricketMeriJaan #INDvAFG
— Mumbai Indians (@mipaltan) September 25, 2018
With MS Dhoni leading India once again, a dead rubber has become a must watch #INDvAFG https://t.co/SpFhckq1sR #AsiaCup pic.twitter.com/lyMo3OhCUE
— ESPNcricinfo (@ESPNcricinfo) September 25, 2018
https://twitter.com/HaramiParindey/status/1044552496310603776
MS Dhoni is Back as Captain! 💙@BleedDhonism @DHONIism @msdhoni @msdfansofficial pic.twitter.com/y8mGAOo9Fb
— CricketFan Vasu Goyal (@VasuGoy24047329) September 25, 2018
Surprise surprise. We have changes in the Indian Team and MS Dhoni walks out to for the toss for the 200th time.
Afghanistan have won the toss and chose to bat first.#AsiaCup2018 #INDvAFG #PlayBold
— Royal Challengers Bengaluru (@RCBTweets) September 25, 2018
MS Dhoni takes over as captain with Rohit Sharma sitting out of the ODI against Afghanistan. Deepak Chahar is making his debut as India bowl first.#AsiaCup2018 https://t.co/rP2HsxeV7X pic.twitter.com/kMsiRSKQjc
— The Quint (@TheQuint) September 25, 2018
More than being captain of the Indian team , @msdhoni you have been a leader setting a great example on & off the field. Happy 200th ODI and Many congratulations to One of India's most decorated players. #MSDhoni #dhoni #INDvAFG #AsiaCup2018
— Mikkhail Vaswani (@MikkhailVaswani) September 25, 2018
Afghanistan wins the toss and elects to bat first against India. MS Dhoni to captain India today. Rohit Sharma given rest. #AsiaCup2018
— ANI (@ANI) September 25, 2018
In MS Dhoni's last two ODIs as captain, two players made their India debut.
Jayant Yadav and Deepak Chahar.#TeamIndia #AsiaCup
— Moulin (@Moulinparikh) September 25, 2018
Bola tha naa @msdhoni will be the captain again !! #MahiMan
— Harneet Singh (@Harneetsin) September 25, 2018
Captaincy To MS Dhoni 😍❤😆 pic.twitter.com/NPBjSQ3dVV
— Abhishek Singh 🇮🇳 (@dhoni_abhishek) September 25, 2018
https://twitter.com/sreshthx/status/1044542191517995008
200th match as an ODI captain for MS Dhoni!
Most matches as a captain in ODIs –
RT Ponting 230
SP Fleming 218
MS Dhoni 200*#AsiaCup2018— Nikhil Mane 🏏🇦🇺 (@nikhiltait) September 25, 2018
MS Dhoni to lead India. Rohit and Dhawan rested #INDvAFG #AsiaCup
— Amol Karhadkar (@karhacter) September 25, 2018
Delighted to see @msdhoni captain India for the 200th time. Great tribute to the legend this and very good call to give everyone a break.
— Boria Majumdar (@BoriaMajumdar) September 25, 2018
No.1 to No.200. Come a long way MS. #IndvAfg #Dhoni200 pic.twitter.com/lhMIA1WI3v
— Nav (@ImNsamy) September 25, 2018
Dhoni's 200th ODI as captain of #TeamIndia 🇮🇳
— Saurabh Malhotra (@MalhotraSaurabh) September 25, 2018
"It's all destiny and I have always believed in that!"
When MS Dhoni walked out as captain for the 2⃣0⃣0⃣th time in ODIs, Indian fans were hit with a severe case of goosebumps and nostalgia! 🤩#INDvAFG pic.twitter.com/7DdjqQqQVl
— Sony Sports Network (@SonySportsNetwk) September 25, 2018
MS Dhoni, the stand-in captain, hands over team sheet to match referee ahead of the toss #INDvAFG #AsiaCup pic.twitter.com/rMWDgyctv1
— Amol Karhadkar (@karhacter) September 25, 2018