THROWBACK: When MS Dhoni apologised to Indian fans after Team India bowed out of 2009 T20 WC

MS Dhoni is currently involved in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023 edition. He is leading the four-time champions Chennai Super Kings (CSK), who picked their third win of the season -- after five games -- as they emerged on top of Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) in match 24, in Bengaluru, on Monday evening (April 17). It is believed that this is the last IPL season for Dhoni although the 41-year-old has not given any clarity on his future.

Dhoni remains a huge name in world cricket. He retired from international cricket on August 15, 2020, putting an end to his illustrious career with 17,266 runs, 634 catches, 359 sixes, 195 stumpings and having led India to all three major ICC titles. He led India to the 2007 T20 World Cup title but the Men in Blue faced an early exit in the following edition, in England, in 2009. After India's three-run loss to hosts England in their second game of the Super Eight round, at Lord's London, the then skipper Dhoni apologised to the Indian fans for their dismal show.

"We are more disappointed (than you) and we respect the emotions of our fans and the country. We are sorry for whatever happened. We gave our best and we say that with an open heart, we have nothing to hide. But the next Twenty20 world cup is coming again in nine months and we would have an opportunity of proving ourselves," said a dejected Dhoni after India's disappointing losswhile addressing the press.

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Talking about the match, India elected to bowl first and restricted England to 153 for 7, who rode on Kevin Pietersen's 46 and Ravi Bopara's 37. In reply, India promoted Ravindra Jadeja over Yuvraj Singh and paid the price for it as the then-inexperienced spin-bowling all-rounder made a scratchy 35-ball 25. From India, Gautam Gambhir, Dhoni, Yuvraj and Yusuf Pathan added runs on the board but it wasn't enough as India managed 150 for 5 in 20 overs.

On his decision to promote Jadeja over Yuvraj, Dhoni said, "Sometimes you don't know what would happen. We thought Jadeja could stabilise the innings as well as go after the bowling. He did try but somehow he always found the fielders. It was unfortunate it didn't work for us. We needed somebody to play percentage cricket at that stage."

"We failed in batting. If the opposition scores 153 and you cannot achieve that on a track like this, I don't think there can be any excuse. You just cannot explain that. We lost simply because we did not bat well. I'm rather happy with the performance of the bowlers," he added.

After the 2009 T20 WC, Dhoni led India in every edition of the marquee event till 2016, taking them to the final in 2014 and the semi-finals two years later at home. Since India's 2007 T20 WC triumph, they are yet to lift the mega title once again.

Meanwhile, Dhoni also ledIndiato the 2011 ODI World Cup and 2013 Champions Trophy during his captaincy tenure.