3 times MS Dhoni won a major tournament with an inexperienced bowling attack

The Tata IPL 2023 final saw an exciting last-ball victory for the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) against the Gujarat Titans (GT). With the win, CSK equalled the record of the Mumbai Indians (MI) for the most IPL titles as they won their fifth.

GT batted first on a flat wicket at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad. At the conclusion of their 20 overs, GT produced a massive total of 214/4. Sai Sudharsan (96 runs off 47 balls), who fell short of a well-deserved hundred, led the GT batting effort.

The game was reduced to a 15-over contest due to bad weather during the second innings, which resulted in the renewed DLS target of 171 for CSK. With 10 runs needed off the last two balls, Ravindra Jadeja hit a six and a boundary to hand CSK a last-ball victory.

It was yet another season where MS Dhoni displayed his spectacular leadership skills, marshalling his troops to perfection. What was commendable about this title win for the Super Kings was their ability to win with an inexperienced attack. However, this isn't the first time that a team lacking experience in the bowling department has been led to victory by MS Dhoni.

Let us take a look at 3 instances when MS Dhoni won a major title with an inexperienced bowling attack.

---

#1 ICC T20 World Cup, 2007

In India's fairytale win in the 2007 ICC World T20, MS Dhoni showed for the first time on the big stage that he is a special leader. With most senior players such as Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly, Zaheer Khan, Rahul Dravid, and VVS Laxman not in the team, Dhoni led a young Indian side with youthful exuberance to victory.

The bowling was a particular area of concern as barring Harbhajan Singh and Ajit Agarkar, India had a rather inexperienced attack. It comprised RP Singh, S Sreesanth, Joginder Sharma, and Irfan Pathan.

In spite of the raw nature of the Indian attack, under MS Dhoni's leadership, Team India managed to defend totals against several top sides such as South Africa, Australia, England, and Pakistan. His masterstroke of giving the ball to Joginder Sharma in the final over of the Final instead of the experienced Harbhajan Singh will be eternally placed in the annals of Indian Cricket history.

#2 ICC Champions Trophy 2013

Most experts had not given India a chance in the 2013 ICC Champions Trophy, owing to the inexperience of the side in both batting and bowling departments. Barring Virat Kohli, Ravichandran Ashwin, Suresh Raina and MS Dhoni, none of the players were part of the squad that had led India to glory in the 2011 ICC World Cup. While the batting was handled well by the likes of Shikhar Dhawan, Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli, it was the bowling that broke the headlines.

A bowling attack consisting of the likes of Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin, Umesh Yadav, Ishant Sharma and Bhuvneshwar Kumar, all in their formative years of international cricket did not inspire much confidence in the minds of cricket experts and fans. However, the young Indian bowlers put in an inspired performance throughout the tournament, restricting quality sides like West Indies, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and England to scores of 233, 165, 181 and 124. It was MS Dhoni's fantastic leadership that transformed this raw attack into a lethal force throughout the competition.

#3 IPL 2023

MS Dhoni entered the tournament with easily one of the weakest bowling attack in the competition. An attack consisting of Tushar Deshpande, Matheesha Pathirana, and Maheesh Theekshana. With Deepak Chahar struggling for fitness for most of the tournament, Ravindra Jadeja was the only experienced and reliable bowler that Dhoni had. The inexperience was evident when CSK conceded more than 200 runs, five times this season.

Yet, under Dhoni's leadership several inexperienced bowlers like Deshpande, Pathirana and Theekshana put in several notable performances, helping their team in their successful campaign. Dhoni used his sharp cricketing brain to perfection, setting extraordinary fields, planning detailed traps and strategies for batters of the opposition and would often walk up to bowlers like Pathirana to groom them and offer his inputs. Thus, Dhoni's leadership played a crucial role in CSK's IPL campaign.