IPL History: Five instances when MS Dhoni's captaincy worked wonders for CSK

Mahendra Singh Dhoni is one name which is present in every cricket debate in India. He has been receiving thunderous reception every time when he steps on to the field and that is evident in the support that his team Chennai Super Kings gets at every stadium. But just like every other big Indian cricket star, Dhoni is also not far away from controversies.

Be it Dhoni's silence after the spot-fixing scandal in 2013 or his strategy of playing the waiting game in Tests sparked many a debate. Even in the 2019 edition of the Indian Premier League, his act of walking onto the field to question a no-ball call questioned his "Captain Cool" tag.

Although Dhoni's action in that match against Rajasthan Royals wasn't pleasing to see on the cricket field, some of the reactions it has evoked seem to be ridiculous. Especially questioning his credentials as captain and the respect towards the game is farcical. T

here have been many an occasion when his captaincy moves have turned the game in his team's favor. Let's trace five instances when he has done that for CSK.

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#1 IPL 2010 - Field placement wins the IPL for CSK

Astute captaincy from the Chennai captain helped them win their first title

This match was a classic example of how Dhoni the captain stood between the opposition and a win. Batting first, Chennai Super Kings racked up 168 in 20 overs against Mumbai Indians as Suresh Raina top scored with 35-ball 57. Ravichandran Ashwin started off with a maiden but Sachin Tendulkar's innings kept Mumbai in the chase.

Dhoni ran out Abhishek Nayar with a moment of brilliance which brought season's emerging player Saurabh Tiwary to the crease. He was dismissed for a duck as Dhoni placed his best fielder Raina at deep midwicket which was the primary scoring area for Tiwary. Raina took a brilliant catch to remove the southpaw.

With 55 needed off 18 balls, Kieron Pollard went berserk smashing Doug Bollinger for 22 runs in the 18th over. Just when the Trinidadian was threatening to take the game away, Dhoni used an unusual tactic of placing a straight mid-off and a long-off. The move paid off as Pollard was caught at mid-off.

Just when the game was in the balance, Dhoni pulled a rabbit out of the hat to help CSK win their first IPL crown.

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#2 IPL 2012 - Attacking Sachin's discomfort zone

Dhoni's strategy of plotting left-arm spinner against Sachin worked wonders. Picture Courtesy: BCCI

Chennai kept their 100% playoff qualification record intact after sneaking through into it with a better net run-rate. They faced arch-rivals Mumbai Indians in the Eliminator of the 2012 season. Batting first, Chennai were off to a horrible start as they two wickets for just one run.

Subramaniam Badrinath and Mike Hussey steadied the innings with a 94-run stand. When Ravindra Jadeja got out, Chennai was at 114-5 with five overs to spare. Dwayne Bravo was promoted ahead of Albie Morkel to the surprise of everyone since the South African had played some powerful cameos in 2012.

The move reaped rewards as the duo smashed 73 in the last five overs. Chasing 187, it was interesting to see Sachin Tendulkar take the first strike. CSK's skipper sprung another surprise by giving the new ball to Shadab Jakati. Knowing Tendulkar's discomfort against the left-arm spinners, Captain Cool came up with this ploy.

Tendulkar found it difficult to rotate the strike as he was eventually run-out. The Goa spinner's spell of 4-0-25-1 never let the Mumbai batsmen score as they fell short of the target by 38 runs.

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#3 IPL 2018 - Ambati Rayudu's batting position

Rayudu's versatility helped CSK pile runs in 2018

Fans and the franchise were eagerly waiting for the 2018 season after being out of action for two years. CSK management started off from where they left as they retained the core of MS Dhoni, Suresh Raina, and Ravindra Jadeja.

Always seen as a team with great auction strategies, the choice of players made by the two-time champions surprised everyone. Dhoni who believes in doing the basics right made another decision which confounded many.

Ambati Rayudu who was used in the lower order by Mumbai was promoted to open the batting. The right-hander used the field restrictions very well as he gave brilliant starts to the team. Later in the tournament, he was moved to No. 4 to combat the spinners.

He went onto score his first T20 hundred against Sunrisers Hyderabad. He guided Chennai to another title as he finished with the team's highest run tally of 602 runs. When everyone didn't have Rayudu in their team, Dhoni made him as an opener and when the situation demanded he became a middle-order batsman.

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#4 IPL 2011 - Ashwin halts Gayle Storm

Ashwin got Gayle out for a duck (Image Courtesy: iplt20.com)

Going into the 2011 IPL, Dhoni was at the top of the world as he had led India to a World Cup title after 28 years. As the World Cup had happened in India, the fans have had an overdose of live action. Yet the excitement was palpable because of the introduction of two new teams in Pune Warriors India and Kochi Tuskers Kerala.

Due to fresh auctions, all teams possessed a different look. But what remained the same was the domination of Chennai Super Kings. They played like defending champions as they were unbeaten at their home ground. They looked set for another title and one man who was standing between them and the title was Chris Gayle.

Gayle storm had taken over the season as he was unstoppable. Dhoni strategically gave the new ball to Ravichandran Ashwin and he bowled two off-breaks which set him nicely up for an arm ball to get the outside edge. He was the only threat CSK had in the final and it was Dhoni's masterstroke to bowl Ashwin in the powerplay that neutralized him.

#5 IPL 2015 - Aging Ashish Nehra leads the CSK bowling attack

Nehra guided the youngsters like Mohit Sharma and Ishwar Pandey

2010-2013 was a period that saw Chennai Super Kings dominate the Indian Premier League. In this four-year period, MS Dhoni's side won the title twice while ended up as runners-up in the other two. Hence when auctions were announced for IPL 7, players from the Yellow Army were the primary targets.

Having recognized the demand for their players, the management decided to bid for new players. They built a strong batting core and veteran Ashish Nehra was hired to lead the bowling attack. Many mocked Chennai's choice as the left-arm bowler was out of the reckoning.

2014 saw him play only four matches but he played a crucial part in the next season. He ended up with 22 wickets at an economy-rate of 7.24. He bowled many match-defining spells that helped the team finish at the top of the table.

In fact, out of the 10 best spells by Chennai players, Nehra's name was on the list five times. This helped him to come back into the Indian team after five years to lead the attack in World T20 in 2016.