Mahendra Singh Dhoni is arguably the greatest limited overs captain India has ever seen. He is renowned for taking unconventional decisions that shock cricket enthusiasts around the world. More often than not, however, the decisions have proved to be justified and India emerged victoriously.
Earlier today the World Cup winning captain took one of the most shocking decisions in his entire career. It was announced earlier that Dhoni has stepped down as the limited overs captain of the Indian cricket team with Virat Kohli set to take up the mantle.
Many captains have come and gone but India has never had a captain like MS Dhoni and never will. Here’s looking at five occasions on which the 35-year-old surprised all and sundry with his decisions.
#1 ICC ODI World Cup Final 2011: India vs Sri Lanka
Leading up to the World Cup final, Dhoni had been criticised by the local press for his preference for the ineffective Piyush Chawla over Ravichandran Ashwin and his own poor form with the bat. In the final, he sprang a surprise yet again by including the erratic and hotheaded S Sreesanth ahead of Ashwin.
With Sreesanth being battered by Mahela Jayawardene and co. and the Lankans setting a formidable target of 275, Dhoni was gearing up for potential pillory. While openers Sachin Tendulkar and Virender Sehwag were dismissed early, Gautam Gambhir and Virat Kohli managed to steady the ship for a while.
However, Kohli got out at the wrong time. With everyone expecting the in-form Yuvraj Singh to step out, Dhoni sprang a surprise as he walked down to the pitch. What followed next was a Dhoni spectacle as he scored a match-winning 91 not out to script India’s six-wicket victory.
Speaking after the match, Dhoni had said, “I took quite a few decisions tonight, if we hadn't won I would have been asked quite a few questions - why no Ashwin and why Sreesanth. Why no Yuvraj and why did I bat ahead of him?”
"That pushed me and motivated me to do well.”
#2 ICC World T20 Final 2007: India vs Pakistan
Dhoni had already led India to the final of the inaugural World T20 Championships where they met arch rivals Pakistan. India batted first after winning the toss and thanks to a graceful innings from Gambhir, set a target of 158.
Pakistan’s run chase was interrupted by regular dismissals at key points. However, they still managed to keep the match alive with Misbah Ul-Haq holding one end. It all came down to the last over with Pakistan needing 13 off the last over.
With everyone expecting to see the experienced Harbhajan Singh come up to bowl the last six balls, Dhoni tossed the ball to Joginder Sharma, leaving the fans in shock. Misbah was picking Harbhajan’s deliveries with considerable ease and Joginder had earlier proved effective while bowling the last over against Australia in the semi-final.
It could have easily gone the other way. Misbah had already hit a huge six off a full-toss and needed to hit another to seal the match. However, overconfidence got the better of him as Misbah got a bit cocky and tried to scoop the next delivery for another boundary and was caught at short fine leg by Sreesanth.
Later on, Joginder said that Dhoni had assured that he personally would shoulder all responsibility if the match did not go their way.
#3 ICC Champions Trophy final 2013: England vs India
Team India progressed to the final of the Champions Trophy in 2013 after stitching together a number of great performances. However, on the big day, all the batsmen faltered at the same time. The match, which was reduced to 20 overs, saw the Indians score a paltry 129 for 7 and England were expected to run away with a victory.
But it all came down to Dhoni’s tactical brilliance and impeccable match reading when it mattered the most. Cleverly marshalling his troops, the Indian captain kept the pressure on the English batsmen. Except for a particularly errant Ishant Sharma, all the bowlers were bowling exceptionally well.
However, Dhoni inexplicably opted for Ishant in the 18th over, ahead of the other in form bowlers, a decision that had many cursing the captain. It all changed, though, as Ishant bowled a brilliant over picking up both Eoin Morgan and Ravi Bopara. This changed the whole context of the match.
What many failed to foresee, Dhoni had already fathomed. Bowling out Ishant gave him the option of using the spinners in the last two overs. The entire move proved to be a master-stroke as India went on to snatch a memorable victory. Dhoni became the first captain to win all possible ICC trophies.
#4 ICC World T20 2016: India vs Bangladesh
India avoided a narrow scare against neighbours Bangladesh in the second match of the group stage at the World T20 Championships in 2016. Bangladesh had managed to restrict their ‘Big Brother’ to 146 in the stipulated 20 overs and were headed to another famous victory against India.
With all the specialist bowlers having completed their quota of four overs, Hardik Pandya had to step up in the last over. The move to use up the experienced bowlers before the final over was difficult even for die-hard Dhoni fans to justify. However, it was proved yet again that “Captain Cool’s” decisions are always measured.
Pandey picked up the wickets of Mushfiqur Rahim and Mahmudullah off the fourth and fifth balls of the over. Bangladesh were still in the running as they needed just two runs off the final delivery to win the match and one to force it to a super-over. It was only a master-stroke from Dhoni after a brainstorming session that helped India snatch victory at the last moment.
Dhoni asked Pandya to bowl a back-of-a-length delivery having anticipated the time Mustafizur Rahman would take to complete a single. He then proceeded to take off his glove as Pandya ran into bowl. Mustafizur failed to connect and as expected went for the do-or-die run. But Dhoni had it all calculated as he collected the ball and sprinted like a gazelle, ball in his palm and thrust his fist into the stumps.
#5 ICC World Cup 2011: India vs Australia
Australia had monopolised the World Cup for 12 years and India were set with the daunting task of defeating them for a place in the semi-final. Dhoni had lost the crucial toss and Australia were set to bat first on the flat pitch at Motera. With the likes of the inform Shane Watson, captain Ricky Ponting, Micheal Clarke and ever-dependent Mike Hussey, the Aussies boasted a strong batting line-up.
In an audacious move, Dhoni started off the bowling with off-spinner Ashwin. While the move seemed to be stupid to the layman, it was perfect to curtail the run flow at the start of the innings. The ploy was to get Watson out cheap and give the Aussies an early blow.
Throughout the opening few overs being bowled by Ashwin, Dhoni employed Suresh Raina, India’s best fielder, at leg-slip. Now, it has always been easy for a right-handed batsman to guide an offspinner's delivery down the fine-leg area, and rotate the strike with ease. With Raina at leg slip, this was negated completely.
It put the batsmen under pressure with Ashwin bowling a lot of dot balls. Watson eventually fell to the off-spinner, bowled for 25 of 38 balls, not his usual boisterous self and all because of captain Dhoni. India went on to win the match courtesy of half-centuries from Sachin, Gambhir and Yuvraj Singh.
Brand-new app in a brand-new avatar! Download CricRocket for fast cricket scores, rocket flicks, super notifications and much more! 🚀☄️
