MS Dhoni: 5 finals! 5 masterstrokes! 5 victories! One man!

MS Dhoni has undoubtedly been one of the best captains to ever play the game of cricket. Apart from his finishing abilities and wicket keeping skills, it is his on-field decisions as a captain that have won many games for the Indian cricket team.

Ruthlessness and unpredictability have always been one of the most important parts of Dhoni's captaincy. MS is always known for staying a step ahead of the opponents during the game. No one can ever predict what is going to be the big man’s next step.

There's no denying to the fact that MS Dhoni has done wonders in the limited overs format. He is the only captain to have all three ICC trophies. Even in IPL, Dhoni is the only player to enter in the finals 7 times which is the most by any player.

Here we look at the 5 masterstrokes by MS Dhoni in the 5 finals he won as captain.

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#5 IPL Final 2011- Chennai Super Kings vs Royal Challengers Bangalore

Giving the new ball to R. Ashwin when Gayle was batting

It was the year 2011. The final and the last encounter of the 4th edition saw a southern derby as the defending champions Chennai Super Kings were facing the table toppers Royal Challengers Bangalore.

Chennai Super Kings won the toss and elected to bat. With the help of a scintillating opening partnership of 159 runs by Murali Vijay and Mike Hussey, CSK posted a total of 205 runs in 20 overs. Chasing a mammoth, all eyes were on the Caribbean legend Chris Gayle who was the highest run-scorer of the tournament. He was the only who could have pulled of the chase from there. But as they say, MS Dhoni is always one step ahead of his opponent. The former Indian captain did exactly the same.

Keeping an eye on Gayle’s weakness against off-spin, MSD gave the new ball to Ashwin and asked him the start the proceedings for CSK. Ashwin didn’t disappoint his captain and took the wicket of Chris Gayle on the very 4th ball of the first over. The universe boss bagged a duck in the final and RCB, after losing Gayle, weren’t able to make a comeback. RCB scored 147 runs in 20 overs and handed an easy win to CSK. Dhoni’s tactical move to give the new ball to R. Ashwin turned out to be a masterstroke and ensured the silverware to the super kings for the second time on the trot!

#4 IPL Final 2010- Chennai Super Kings vs Mumbai Indians

Placing Matthew Hayden at the straight mid-off against Pollard

In the final match of the 3rd edition of the IPL, the Chennai Super Kings locked horns with the table toppers Mumbai Indians.

Chennai won the toss and elected to bat first. The openers weren’t able to deliver big as Chennai had a slow start. But all thanks to MI fielders’ poor fielding that helped the super kings to post a decent total of 168 runs in 20 overs. Chasing 169, MI was not up to the start they would have wanted as wickets kept falling from one end. While on the other end, it was Master Blaster Sachin Tendulkar who was fighting with an injured finger. Keeping an eye on fall of wickets at regular intervals, the Mumbai Indians’ management decided to not keep it simple and Pollard was sent at no. 8. By the time Pollard entered the ground, MI needed 55 runs in 3 overs. Pollard smashed 22 runs in the 18th over of the game.

Mumbai Indians now needed 33 runs in the last 12 balls with Pollard being the lone man between CSK and trophy. In the final ball of that over Dhoni employed a strange field setting. He placed Matthew Hayden at the straight mid-off just behind the bowler. This initially made no sense. But once again, MSD got the better of the opponents as Pollard was caught by Hayden on the next ball. This was the final nail in the coffin that helped the Super Kings to win the title for the first time.

#3 Cricket World Cup 2011 Final- India vs Sri Lanka

Promoting himself at no. 5

The final match of ICC CWC 2011. The match that paused the entire nation. The match that rolled out tears of happiness from the faces of 1.2 billion people. Both the teams wanted to bid a perfect farewell to their respective legends. Whilst Sri Lanka wanted to win it for the great Muttiah Muralitharan, India wanted to fulfill God of Cricket’s dream of winning the world cup. The match was held at the iconic Wankhede stadium in Mumbai.

Sri Lanka was off to a slow start largely due to Zaheer Khan’s brilliant bowling spell. Each and every player from both the teams were giving their 100%. Even the youngsters like Virat Kohli and Suresh Raina were diving like Jonty Rhodes. India kept Sri Lanka in control until Jayawardene started to increase the tempo and began to play aggressively. Mahela repaid all the faith laid on him by the fans by scoring a scintillating century. Sri Lanka finished their innings on the score of 274.

Chasing 275 runs in 50 over in the final of a World Cup is never an easy task. India started their chase in the worst possible way as they lost Virender Sehwag on the second of the ball of the innings. Hopes were still alive as the master was still there. The way he hit that straight drive made us all feel that it his day. But! but! but! Malinga took Tendulkar's wicket! Tendulkar went at a slightly widish one and thick-edged behind it to Sangakkara. As the noise in the Wankhede Stadium dropped about 120 decibels, Malinga went on spiraling 50-yard victory charge. Fingers went numb, everyone shell-shocked, the memories of 2003 WC Finals started haunting all of us.

The Delhi boys Gautam Gambhir and Virat Kohli fought back and kept the hopes alive. That partnership was a heart in the mouth one but the way both of them batted, they deserve every sort of appreciation. Virat Kohli was dismissed after a splendid catch by Tilakratne Dilshan and the entire stadium went silent but with the silence was an accompanying hope that in-form Yuvraj Singh will come out and bail India out of trouble as he did on so many occasions throughout the tournament. But hang on! Out came the Indian Captain MS Dhoni. Dhoni has had a horrible tournament so far with the bat. This decision befuddled many of the fans. But what happened next is history!

Dhoni and Gambhir strung an ebullient partnership of 109 runs. With the help of this once-in-a-lifetime partnership, the duo took India to a position of safety. However, the Delhi batsman wasn’t able to complete his hundred as he was bowled by Thisara Perera on 97 runs. Dhoni and Yuvraj gradually started scoring quickly, and now 5 runs were required in the last 2 overs. The match and the World Cup was in India’s pocket. Yuvi took a single and gave the strike to Dhoni. 4 runs were required off 11 balls. N. Kulasekara with the ball, Dhoni on strike.

Dhoni smashed Kulasekara for a six! The wait was finally over! India had won the world cup! As Dhoni held his pose and rotated the bat, jubilation spread like wildfire in the whole country. The fireworks were off! Players were celebrating in the ground! Even the grittiest fans were not able to sabotage the happy tears from rolling out. The wait of 1.2 billion people was over. The god of cricket’s wait was over.

Sachin Tendulkar and Gary Kirsten were given the lap of the honor. Dhoni was adjudged the Man of the match for his sensational knock of 91 runs in 79 balls. Yuvraj Singh was given the award of Player of the tournament for his brilliant performance with both bat and ball. India had finally won the world cup after the wait of 28 years.

#2 ICC Champions Trophy 2013- India vs England

Giving the 18th over to a struggling Ishant Sharma

It was the final match of the ICC Champions Trophy 2013. The home team England were facing the Indian Cricket Team. 6 Hours of rain drained the 50 over contest by shrinking it to a T20 match. But this thrilling encounter made those 6 hours worth it.

India had a slow start and the fast fall of wickets led them to the score of 66 runs for 5 wickets. Ravindra Jadeja and Virat Kohli took the charge from there and boosted the scoreboard by adding 47 runs. India finished their innings on the score of 129 runs with the loss of 7 wickets. Defending 130 runs in 20 overs was tough but not impossible.

Defending the total, India started it's pursuit to win the trophy in a brilliant way by dismissing England’s top 4 on the score of 46 runs. But Eoin Morgan and Ravi Bopara had different plans. The duo built a partnership of 64 runs in just 53 balls. Only 28 runs were required of the last 3 overs. This is when the Indian captain MS Dhoni made the biggest gamble of the tournament.

Dhoni gave the ball to a struggling Ishant Sharma. Whilst Bhuvaneswar Kumar had 1 and Umesh Yadav had 2 overs still left in their spell, Dhoni preferred to go with Ishant Sharma who had been smashed around the park by the English Batsman. The decision seemed worse when Ishant was smacked for a six in the second delivery of the over and then bowled two consecutive wides. The cricket lords were going mad on both; the bowler and the captain. But then came the moment.

Ishant took the wicket of Eoin Morgan who was caught at mid-on after nicking a slow ball. Following him to the dugout was Ravi Bopara who smacked a bouncer in square leg fielder’s hand. The worst decision of the tournament now seemed like the best gamble ever. The rest of the work was done by the spinners as 6 runs were required off the last ball. R. Ashwin to Tredwell and you all know what happened next! The dream that lasted for 11 years finally turned into a reality! The trophy that we had to share with Sri Lanka in 2002 finally came back to India.

Dhoni’s gamble was now a masterstroke. The victory was dedicated to the whole team and why not? This inspiring team effort and Dhoni's gamble was one of the biggest reasons behind India winning the trophy!

#1 World T20 final 2007- India vs Pakistan

Giving the last over to Joginder Sharma

The arch-rivals India and Pakistan were facing each other in the inaugural T20 World Cup. This tournament revolutionized the game of cricket. T20 format commenced amidst a lot of hearsays and exhilaration. The fans didn’t know much about the format. Both India and Pakistan were pretty much in a similar condition. Both the teams didn’t have their star players. Both the teams had a young team along with young and calm captains. Nevertheless, this didn’t affect the performance of the teams as both India and Pakistan performed exceptionally well and went into the final.

India won the toss and elected to bat. Debutant Yusuf Pathan started the match in style by smashing two boundaries in the first over. Though it was a short stay for Yusuf as Mohammed Asif sent him back to the pavilion in the 3rd over, India soon lost the wicket of Robin Uthappa as well. Yuvraj Singh built a 63 runs’ partnership with Gautam Gambhir who held down from one end. Soon Yuvraj was dismissed. Dhoni also flopped with the bat. But all thanks to Gautam Gambhir’s knock of 75 runs 54 balls and Rohit Sharma’s cameo of 30 runs in 16 balls, India set a respectable target of 158 runs in 20 overs.

Chasing 158, Pakistan had a poor start to their innings, losing Mohammad Hafeez for 1 run in the first over. Pakistan had lost 6 of their batsmen for 77 runs by the 12th over, staring at a sure-shot defeat. But Misbah-Ul-Haq was not ready to give up. Misbah smacked 3 sixes in one over. The equation boiled down to 13 off 6 balls with Pakistan’s last wicket pair of Misbah and Asif at the crease. Dhoni gambled by giving the last over to Joginder Sharma. This decision initially made no sense. Misbah carted Jogi for a six and brought down the equation to 6 runs in 4 balls. Dhoni’s gamble now looked like a foolish decision from an inexperienced captain. But then another gamble was made. This time from Misbah! Misbah scooped the next delivery which proved to be fatal for his side. He top-edged it to Sreesanth who was standing at fine leg. India won the match! The young Indian brigade had done it! And winning the finals against Pakistan was an icing on the cake.

Just a couple of matches earlier India were on the brink of elimination. But an inspired team effort and self-assurance ensured the silverware to the mercurial, yet consistent Indian Cricket Team. And looking at the gumption of this young brigade, this victory seemed the only possible result they were going to settle for. This was the first feather in Dhoni’s elusive cap. Little did we knew at that time that this flamboyant youngster from Ranchi is going to become one of the best captains to ever play the sport.