Mahendra Singh Dhoni - Great ODI innings from the Indian captain

We have an in-form Rohit Sharma, who can produce match-winning innings by staying till the last over.

We have an in-form Shikhar Dhawan, who can provide you a good start.

We have an in-form Virat Kohli, who can adapt to any conditions and increase the run rate.

We have an experienced Yuvraj Singh, who can steal the game away from the opponent at any time.

We have an in-form Ravindra Jadeja, who can finish the innings well.

But when all the above mentioned star players fail, we have MS Dhoni.

The Indian captain has played some match winning innings in situations where Indian team looked like “falling like nine pins”. Leading from the front, Dhoni performed well under immense pressure and helped India to score competitive scores.

A look at some of the fighting innings played by the Indian captain:

Captain Cool after his fighting century

139 Vs Australia, 2013

Mitchell Johnson bowled to his captain’s strategy, bowling short balls, and the result was that Suresh Raina, Yuvraj Singh and Ravindra Jadeja were dismissed quickly. With the score at 76/4, Virat Kohli needed a partner with whom he can consolidate the Indian innings. MS Dhoni came out and his intentions were clear- survive till the 40^th over and accelerate after that. This was another magnificent innings from the Indian captain.

He was aware of the situations around and never tried to lose his wicket by playing foolish shots. With wickets falling at the other end he settled for just ones and twos. He twisted his ankle when he took the first run but he went on fighting and at last, scored another “fighting” century.

He stayed till the last over and accelerated India’s score past 300, which at one moment looked 250.

Players celebrate with their captain after winning the Celkon Cup, in West Indies

45* Vs Sri Lanka, Tri series final, 2013

Dhoni came at 141/4 with India still needing 63 runs. He was at one end and saw the wickets tumbling down at the other one. Despite all those low points, the captain proved once again that he was like a silent guy before the storm. The cracking shots that Dhoni had up his sleeve finally came in the last over when India needed 15 runs to clinch the Celkon Cup. Dhoni finished the match with 2 sixes and a four and with two balls to spare; he helped India in yet another series victory.

There is only one batsman in the world who can perform under immense pressure- MS Dhoni is the man!

113* Vs Pakistan, 2012

Mohammad Irfan and Junaid Khan were bowling dream spells as they clean bowled the top 4 batsmen by a fine display of swing bowling. When MS Dhoni entered, India were struggling at 29/5 and it was all up to the captain and his young partner Suresh Raina to consolidate the Indian innings. Again, the captain came into the rescue. He proved once again that if the top order fails completely, the team is not going to surrender as their “cool” captain is still at the wicket and “fighting” for his team.

Dhoni started slowly, but took singles regularly. His first boundary came when he faced his 78^th delivery and then started to accelerate a little bit. In the 49^th over he targeted the tall Irfan and extracted 21 runs from that over with 2 fours and 1 six, scoring another magnificent century- a fighting one!

33* Vs Australia, CB series, 2012

India required 90 odd runs from 15 overs which was tough to make in Australia, that too under pressure. But nothing affects captain cool as he produced another match winning innings of 33 runs. It was a damn patient innings as he just picked up ones and twos and waited for the final over.

India needed 13 runs in the final over, with Ashwin on strike. The responsibility was on MS Dhoni when the equation read 12 from 4 balls. The 3^rd ball went for a big six and it was enough to pressurize Mckay as he bowled a no ball to which two runs were taken. In no time the equation turned to 3 from 3 and the captain finished it in the next ball by taking the required runs.

Celebrations after Dhoni’s iconic six

91* Vs Sri Lanka, ICC World Cup Final, 2011

Sachin Tendulkar and VirenderShewag, both inform openers, were dismissed and then the surprise came in the form of MS Dhoni. He was out of form throughout the world cup but came up the order at no.5 to help India chase down the magical figure of 275. With bowlers like veteran Muttiah Muralidharan and Lasith Malinga, the target seemed tough and Sri Lanka were in the driver seat but nothing was impossible for MS Dhoni. Along with Gambhir, he consolidated the innings and never allowed the required run rate to go beyond reach.

He was so concentrated that he didn’t even realize that he had scored a half century. On one hand Dhoni respected Muralidharan and played him out safely, while on the other hand he took on the attack against Nuwan Kulasekara and Thisara Perera. In the end it was Dhoni who, deservingly, scored the winning runs by lofting a full length delivery from Kulasekara into the stands and ended the 24 year wait for the World Cup.

124 Vs Australia, 2009

On a good batting wicket, India started off quite well with Sehwag and Gambhir scoring quickly. When Dhoni came to bat, the score was 97/3 and it didn’t look like that India can go past 300. When MS became the captain, he started to show responsibility in his innings and that was showed here too.

He first settled down and consolidated the innings with Gambhir, scoring ones, twos and occasional boundaries.

Till the 43^rd over he had scored 78 off 87 balls and it was from this over, bowled by Johnson, that he changed his gear. He reached his century with a big six in the 46^th over and at the end he steered India’s score past 350 which turned out to be a match winning one.