Here is a surprising trivia. Out of the 350 ODIs played by MS Dhoni, he has won the Player of the Match award only 21 times. Here is a man who has scored over 10000 ODI runs, taken 321 catches, affected 123 stumpings and won three ICC trophies. Yet, in terms of players with most Man of the Match awards, Dhoni is way down in the list – 33rd overall and the seventh Indian. However, former spinner Saeed Ajmal, while alleging unfair treatment, feels Dhoni did not deserve to win the Player of the Match award in the third ODI between India and Pakistan in December of 2012. Referring to the third ODI of the series, Ajmal indirectly said that he should have won the prize after skittling India out cheaply.
"I think it was my bad luck. I bowled India out for 175 in the third ODI – it was the only series I played in India. We won the first two matches and I bowled outstandingly well in both. In the third ODI, I got five wickets which is still my best ODI figures. What is 175? But MS Dhoni, for scoring some 18 runs and dropping two catches, took away the Man of the Match award. It's unfair. What is the meaning of a Man of the Match? A person who has the best performance in a game should win it, right? But since India won the match, they gave Man of the Match award to Dhoni for dropping a catch," Ajmal said on The Nadir Ali podcast.
Ajmal, who at one point in his career was the world's No.1-ranked ODI and T20I bowler, has surprisingly never won a Man-of-the-Match award in his career. Ajmal picked two five-wicket hauls in an ODI career spanning 113 matches – one of which came in that match. However, Ajmal's descripted needed a bit of correction. Although he did grab 5/25, India were bowled out for 167 in which Dhoni was the top-scorer with 36 runs.
{{/usCountry}}Ajmal, who at one point in his career was the world's No.1-ranked ODI and T20I bowler, has surprisingly never won a Man-of-the-Match award in his career. Ajmal picked two five-wicket hauls in an ODI career spanning 113 matches – one of which came in that match. However, Ajmal's descripted needed a bit of correction. Although he did grab 5/25, India were bowled out for 167 in which Dhoni was the top-scorer with 36 runs.
{{/usCountry}}Another part which Ajmal got wrong was Dhoni's drop catches as there was just one tough chance MSD couldn't cling on to, which was off the bowling of Ravindra Jadeja. In fact, Dhoni took a catch to dismiss Ajmal himself and stumped Umar Akmal. The Delhi ODI though isn't the only occasion when Ajmal feels he was hard done by.
"Even against South Africa, I once dismissed four against South Africa. I may have not won a Man of the Match award but I certainly won the Player of the Series award in ODIs. I dismissed Hashim Amla in the last over when SA needed 10 runs to win in 12 balls. I got him out second last. It was the first-ever Pakistan team which won an ODI series in South Africa. In every match, I gave match-winning performances during that tour and still didn't win a single MOM award," Ajmal added.