Indian cricket fans were left mourning as one of India’s shrewdest skippers, MS Dhoni, bid goodbye to captaincy in ODI and T20I formats yesterday. ‘Captain Cool’ as he was known, has been a crowd favourite ever since he stepped into the Indian team as a wild slogger with long mane.
When Dhoni was made skipper in 2007, Indians were suspect about how he would fare as skipper. He soon put an end to all speculation by returning with a World Cup in 2007 from the inaugural T20I World Cup in South Africa.
Also Read: 5 trophies India will always thank MS Dhoni for
He added several other coveted trophies to his collection and became a mature, confident captain who earned the respect of his troops. Much akin to the army, to which he has a special liking, the lower order finisher lead the nation with purpose and bravado.
His techniques and decisions have trumped critics around the world, who took aim at him for his unorthodox methods. However, more often than not they succumbed to his shrewd judgement and instincts. Such was the prowess of this wicket-keeper that he powered his way through the dry domestic structure in India to stand at the helm of Indian cricket.
Here is a look at some bold decisions taken by MS Dhoni that surprised fans and critics alike, but paid rich dividends.
#5 The move to give Joginder Sharma the final over in the 2007 T20 World Cup
This was the first of his unorthodox moves that the world would come to witness a lot many times over his career. His tactical brilliance had seen an understrength India surge to the finals of the tournament and with their opponents being their arch rivals, Pakistan, a loss would not have gone down well with fans back home.
The match had a nail biting finish as Misbah-ul-Haq took Pakistan to the verge of victory with 13 needed off the final over of the game. Dhoni was expected to give the ball to his senior spinner, Harbhajan Singh, who had an over left.
But he stunned the world by handing over the responsibility to Joginder Sharma, a medium pacer, who did not have the pace or skill to trouble batsmen in this format. Harbhajan had been a touch on the expensive side and Misbah was a slogger who could deposit spinners out of the stadium. This may have prompted the move from Dhoni.
Misbah took full toll of Joginder by smacking a huge six off him off a wide full toss. He continued bowling a wide line at the instruction of Dhoni and an impatient Misbah tried to play a scoop which ended up safely in the hands of fine-leg, sparking off wild celebrations in the Indian camp.
Joginder Sharma later revealed that Dhoni had told him he would take complete responsibility if India lost the game. Who wouldn't love such a captain?
#4 Bowl-out against Pakistan
The 2007 T20 World Cup had already seen another master class move from Dhoni in the group stages. Against Pakistan, with the match tied, a bowl out was to decide the outcome.
In a bowl out, three bowlers from either side would bowl to hit the stumps, much like penalties in football, although there is no obstruction between the bowler and the stumps.
Pakistan opted for three of their best bowlers to bowl the bowl-outs. But Dhoni, being the street smart cricketer he is, had a trick up his sleeve. He kept his fast bowlers aside and opted for Sehwag, Harbhajan and Robin Uthappa for the bowl out.
The move was a masterstroke as Pakistan missed all three of their chances while India hit all three. Dhoni believed that a slower bowler had more chances of hitting the stumps in such a scenario and he turned out to be right.
#3 Promoting himself in the 2011 World Cup final
Dhoni revelled in finals of tournaments and knew how to get the better of his opponents in finals. India had matched all expectations by marching to the finals of the 2011 World Cup and had tough opponents in Sri Lanka at Mumbai.
Lanka had piled up a target of 275, a tough one in the finals of a tournament, and India had started poorly, losing Sehwag and Tendulkar in quick time. While Gambhir and a young Kohli withstood for some time, the latter fell to a brilliant caught and bowled by Tillakaratne Dilshan.
Yuvraj Singh had had a terrific tournament up until then at no. 5 and was expected to walk in at the fall of Kohli's wicket. But Dhoni sprung a surprise by promoting himself up and ahead of Yuvraj.
He was heavily criticised in the commentary box for the move because Yuvraj was in the form of his life and Dhoni had done little with the bat in the tournament. But with Muralitharan, an off-spinner in the midst of a fine spell, Dhoni deemed it was better to keep Yuvraj, who is not a good player of off-spin.
The move turned out to be historic as Dhoni led India to their second World Cup win after 1983. He remained unbeaten, smashing a huge six over long-on off Kulasekara to complete the win.
#2 Sticking with his men
Dhoni, for all his quirky methods as skipper, was a strong supporter of his team-mates and he stood by them through thick and thin. He was instrumental in the growth of Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Murali Vijay, Rohit Sharma and Ishant Sharma, all of with whom he stood by boldly despite them going to the verge of being dropped.
He was critical in the decision to retain Virat Kohli in the Test side in 2011 during the Australian series. Kohli promptly made a hundred in Adelaide to back his captain's faith in him and is now one of the best Test cricketers around.
Another vital move was to promote Rohit Sharma as opener in limited overs cricket, which saw him notch up two double hundreds in ODIs, including the highest ever score of 264.
He kept his faith in Ashwin and Jadeja despite their failures outside India and backed them to the hilt in press-conferences. The duo have turned into world beaters now and they have none but Dhoni to thank.
#1 Backing Ishant Sharma in the 2013 Champions Trophy final
India were into the final of the Champions Trophy in 2013 which was reduced to a 20 over per innings. India batted first and struggled to a below par score of 129. Odds were heavily stacked in favour of England, who had a good run to the finals themselves.
Dhoni, however, fought back by tightening the screws with his spinners. England found scoring tough against them but feasted on Ishant Sharma. Even as the spinners made it hard for England, Dhoni brought out his trump card and gave the ball to a wayward Ishant in the 18th over.
Buoyed by his skipper's confidence in him, Ishant bowled a terrific over, dismissing Eoin Morgan and Ravi Bopara, both of whom were settled at the wicket.
The move also helped Dhoni bowl his spinners in the final two overs. They retained his faith in them and bowled well to help India win the Champions Trophy against all odds, another feather in Dhoni's cap.
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