As the entire nation celebrates the 40th birthday of Mahendra Singh Dhoni with stories and anecdotes of his achievements, laurels and everything in between that he did as the captain, batsman and wicket-keeper of the Indian squad, the supporters of the England cricket team had other plans.

The Barmy Army, who call themselves the England cricket supporters club and follow England everywhere they go, decided to take a rather peculiar approach towards wishing ‘Captain Cool’ - by reminding him of the loss India incurred during the Groups stage of the ICC World Cup 2019.

Happy Birthday MS, some amazing battles over the years 󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿🇮🇳 pic.twitter.com/1uomWLBp1Q

— England's Barmy Army (@TheBarmyArmy) July 7, 2021

“Happy Birthday MS, some amazing battles over the years,” they wrote from their official Twitter handle, talking about the Edgbaston clash which England won by 31 runs behind a stunning 111-run innings by Jonny Bairstow.

However, it also turned out to be a match following which cricketers from all over the world had started to question Dhoni’s ability to act as a finisher for the Indian squad and began to doubt the intent with which he stepped onto the pitch.

This one pic summarizes the problem with Dhoni bakths... It's not about one six... It's not about 15 runs in last over... It's about intent to win... #CWC19 #IndvsEng pic.twitter.com/lwZFi4xZO3

— Humming hero (@HeroHumming) June 30, 2019

"He appeared more intent on singles than sixes. Even with a dozen balls remaining, India could still have won," England all-rounder Ben Stokes later wrote in his book On Fire, addressing the strategy with which the former skipper played his innings.

"...there was little or no intent from him (Dhoni) or his partner Kedar Jadhav. To me, while victory is still possible you always go for broke," Stokes added.

And even though that particular match has turned out to be a bit of a stain on Dhoni’s career, especially in the final leg of his international cricketing days, his fans were ready to retaliate with some of their own memories of “some amazing battles over the years”.

Yes, really amazing battles. https://t.co/ZHuNDoXqsz pic.twitter.com/WxgvqGcXlP

— यश 🇮🇳 (@im_yash2307) July 7, 2021

Cheers Mate!#HappyBirthdayMSD #captaincool https://t.co/P5hrOVFXz7 pic.twitter.com/eNamI5ck7x

— Deepak (@AnanD_Deepak_) July 7, 2021

Take this https://t.co/MeYOv0XGXf pic.twitter.com/XpSePozQdP

— Sreedhar Bunny#viratian♥️ (@bunnysreedhar) July 7, 2021

Team winning the world cup final through boundaries count is the real amazing battle https://t.co/oEPYMahr3K

— Bharath Reddy (@Bharath_Ro_45) July 7, 2021

This shot bigger than that umpire tax world cup https://t.co/EYQpXlbpiu pic.twitter.com/vT09FNcKs2

— Untitled Ravi Bhai Daruwala (@RaviBhai2705) July 7, 2021

England went on to win that World Cup, albeit after defeating Kane Williamson’s New Zealand squad by zero runs. After the 50-over match ended in a controversial tie, both teams managed to score exactly 15 runs in the World Championship deciding Super Over. But eventually, the Englishmen ended up winning their first-ever World Cup title on the basis of the fact that they had scored more boundaries in the final.

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