It was the 21st of June 2015. MS Dhoni had just entered the Press Conference room after having lost his first ever ODI series against Bangladesh in their own backyard. The pressure was squarely on him. Questions and doubts over his captaincy and even his place in the side were being fired at him from all corners.
When he was put forth the question once again, an emotional Dhoni had this to say:
"Yes, if it is a justifiable thing that if you remove me and the Indian cricket will start doing really well, and if I am the reason for all the bad that is happening to Indian cricket, definitely I would love to step away and play as a player. Ultimately you want India to win. It doesn't matter who is the captain. I was never really in line to become a captain. It was a job or responsibility for me. I have taken that responsibility. It was given to me, I took it. If they want to take it away, I am happy to give it away.
In the seven-and-a-half years that he had led this side, not once did anybody see this side of him. Every analyst, every player who had played with him, every fan who had followed Indian cricket long enough to understand him, knew that neither victory nor defeat ever flustered him.
But on that night, it seemed a little evident that Dhoni had had enough. He had heard enough talk about him leaving the game and that his bucket of patience couldn't take any more.
India lost that series 2-1 and the talk of Dhoni’s leadership subsided in a few days and remained that way for a while.
South Africa come and the doubts return
If it was after losing the series against Bangladesh that Dhoni found himself in the firing line, against South Africa, it was right after the opening match of the ODI series at Kanpur that the daggers were out on his captaincy as well as on his finishing ability.
Apart from failing to score 11 in the final over of Kagiso Rabada, there were questions over why R Ashwin, the team’s best bowler by a distance was bowled just for a single over before being taken out of the attack.
Everything that Dhoni was doing, it seemed, was bent on failing. He tried to promote himself up the order but couldn't attain the consistency.
When it seemed like India would win the ODI series in Mumbai, after winning in Chennai to level the series at 2-2, he and his team were caught at the wrong end of the flattest pitch of the year as his bowlers were caught at the receiving end of an absolute massacre.
The same Mohit Sharma who had looked so good in the World Cup in Australia earlier that year was being carted all over the place. Bhuvneshwar Kumar, a man who had become so dependable for Dhoni in the early part of the innings earlier, seemed to have lost his sting and suddenly, the bells were ringing even more.
Australia comes and the change arrives
It was the third ODI against Australia in Melbourne. India were 2-0 down in the series and were defending 296 to keep the series alive. Ravindra Jadeja was introduced into the attack and he delivered almost immediately, removing India’s nemesis Steve Smith to brighten their hopes of winning, and then got rid off George Bailey a few overs later to put the hosts in a tight spot.
With Jadeja bowling very well, you would have thought another wicket was around the corner, but in a decision that could be understood only him, he took him off the attack and brought in Barinder Sran. With more pace on the ball, it became easy for Australia thenceforth.
Not only did that call go wrong, but the decision to drop Ashwin, who had just been declared the leading wicket-taker in 2015 also backfired, especially on a pitch that assisted the spinners.
Down 4-0 in the series, the team headed to Sydney to avoid a whitewash and led by a superb spell from Jasprit Bumrah and an even better hundred from Manish Pandey, India managed to avoid the 5-0 scoreline.
Little did anyone know that the tide was to shift from there on. India went into the T20I series that followed and dominated it thoroughly to win it 3-0. Suddenly, the positivity was back. The belief was back.
Everybody started to talk about how India were favourites for the World T20 and that line-of-thought only gained further momentum when the Indians beat Sri Lanka 2-1 on Sunday.
A fizzing off-spinner, quality pace attack,& the return of Dhawan
So what has changed for MS Dhoni, that has made him look like the admirable leader that he has always been in limited-overs cricket?
1.The fizzing off-spinner is back: After proving to be ineffective in the first 2 ODIs against Australia, Ashwin was dropped for the remainder of the ODIs, but ever since returning to the T20 setup, he has looked every bit of the bowler that we saw in 2015.
He’s been flighting the ball, allowing it to dip on the batsman, and has been fetching scalps the way he should- with good, conventional off-spin bowling.
Also, his ability to deliver in different situations in the game has most definitely helped Dhoni’s cause. In Australia, Ashwin delivered after Australia had got off to a good start in both Adelaide and Melbourne, and in the series against Sri Lanka, he was asked to bowl with the new ball and he came good again.
2.The refreshing change to India’s pace attack: Sanjay Manjrekar last year made a point about Sreenath Aravind’s selection into the side for the series against South Africa, stating that he should be tried out just to change the attack a bit, that was portraying a look of sameness with Kumar, Umesh Yadav, Mohit etc forming the trio consistently.
For the 2016 tour to Australia, the selectors not just picked one seamer in Barinder Sran, a move that looked completely out-of-the-blue, they also rewarded Jasprit Bumrah and Hardik Pandya for their domestic exploits. We have already seen how fruitful, especially the last 2 selections, have proven out to be.
In Bumrah, Dhoni seems to have finally found someone he had been craving for- a death bowler who could execute yorkers regularly, and in Pandya, another commodity that he feels is a must in the shorter formats- a bowling all-rounder who would give him a few overs and be handy with the bat down the order.
3.The return of the real Dhawan: Ever since the 4th ODI against Australia, something or someone has switched on the button that is within Shikhar Dhawan. The left-hander, who has always been such an enigma for his ability to produce impactful innings has shown in the recent times about what he can do when he comes off.
Barring the T20 at Adelaide, he played a key role in building the foundation along with Rohit Sharma in Melbourne and Sydney, and at Ranchi, in a must-win against Sri Lanka, he scored his maiden half-century as India put up a total that proved far too good for the visitors.
Barring the above 3 notable changes, there are few other things as well that have worked for him. The good old instincts seem to be back, as was evident in Sydney in the final T20 when he sent a raw Yuvraj Singh ahead of him when it was he who had spent more time in the middle.
Ahead of the World T20, India play the Asia Cup in Bangladesh, and Dhoni, as well as the whole of India, would be hoping that the cohesiveness of this side remains intact in Bangladesh and at the carnival that follows.
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