Four reasons to believe in MS Dhoni, the captain

Mahendra Singh Dhoni, the current captain of Indian team, has his fair share of critics and supporters. Some people call him the best captain who has ever lead India while some are not so easily impressed. According to them his defensive techniques have lead India to manylosses in Test matches. But hater or not, you'd have to agree that Dhoni has a certain aura to him.People don't like him for nothing. His tale is the perfect Bollywood story; a small town boy from a humble background making it big in a country where every second guy wants to play cricket. He has lead India to two World Cup victories. Now when India is touring England again after the 4-0 debacle of 2011 and the 2-1 loss suffered at home, Dhoni is in news again.Most people dont think that under his captaincy well not be able to win matches there. I think we should give him a chance. The legend of Dhoni is such that fielding captains make changes in the field placements when 40 runs are required off 1 over. He has often been called the man with a Midas Touch which is not really an exaggeration.In the past when others have written off Team India, Dhonis quick thinking and leadership skills have given us a fighting chance.

#1 World T20 in 2007

This was the first time a World Cup tournament was organized for cricket’s shortest format. The venue was South Africa. All the senior players i.e. Sourav Ganguly, Rahul Dravid and Sachin Tendulkar had refused to play T20 cricket.

A team of youngsters was formed at the last minute and Dhoni was given their charge. No one was really expecting Team India to survive the Super 8 group stage. In fact, BCCI hadn’t even booked hotels for the team’s stay for the entire tournament.

Yuvraj Singh’s 6 sixes off Stuart Broad, the Indian bowlers outplaying the Pakistani bowlers in the bowl out, etc made sure India reached the finals. In the finals when Pakistan needed only 13 runs off 1 over, MS Dhoni trusted Joginder Sharma with the ball. What happened after is history. India won the inaugural World T20 tournament and became world champions.

#2 World Cup in 2011

The 50-over World Cup was being played in the subcontinent this time. It is said that no one can beat the Indian team when they play on home soil. Except for Sri Lanka in 1996, no host nation had ever won the World Cup.

The World Cup was special for India since it was the last time Sachin Tendulkar would be playing this tournament. We largely owe this World Cup victory to Yuvraj Singh who put the team above his own health.

India’s dream of winning its second WorldCcup would have remained a dream if it weren’t for Dhoni’s unbeaten 91 in the final against Sri Lanka where he promoted himself up the batting order above the in-form Yuvraj Singh. Dhoni’s match winning six and the bat twirl after that is etched in the mind of every Indian cricket fan.

#3 Whitewashing Australia 4-0

India’s tour of Australia in 2011-12 was a disaster which everyone involved would like to forget. Follow it up with England winning their first Test series in India since the 1984-85, there was huge pressure on Dhoni to give up the Test captaincy. But Dhoni isn’t one to quit.

He proved his mettle against Michael Clarke’s team when he and his men defeated them 4-0 and recorded Indian team’s first ever whitewash against Australia in a series consisting of over 2 Tests.

Dhoni also made his career best 224 in the scorching heat of Chennai with Bhuvneshwar Kumar for company and also became the first wicketkeeper to score a double century in a single day.

#4 Champions Trophy 2013

It was going to be the 7th and the final ICC Champions Trophy to be held. Closer home, players from the IPL were under the radar for betting and match-fixing allegations.

A young and inexperienced team arrived in England and was being called the “weakest Indian team”. But Dhoni had other things in mind. India reached the finals with relative ease due to Shikhar Dhawan’s consistent performances at the top and Ravindra Jadeja’s spin bowling.

India were all set to play England in the finals when the match was reduced to a 20 over due to the incessant rains. The Bopara and Morgan blitz was making sure that India will lose when Dhoni decided to toss the ball to Ishant Sharma who repaid the faith placed in him by taking 2 wickets in the same over. With Bopara and Morgan gone, there was no stopping India from winning the tournament.