5 best ODI wins under MS Dhoni

Arguably the greatest captain ever to have taken over the mantle of the Indian cricket team, Mahendra Singh Dhoni emerged from a small town Ranchi and marched into folklore. With his awe-inspiring skills on the field and a captaincy career which spanned 10 years, the 36-year-old has given plenty of joyous moments to the Indian fans.

Winning matches is one thing, forging personalities, stamping a philosophy and then taking the team along is something else. Dhoni was a leader, both on and off the field.

Dhoni captained India in 199 ODIs and won 110 matches with a win percentage of 55.28.

Here in this list, we take a look at five of India’s greatest wins under Mahendra Singh Dhoni.

#5 India vs Sri Lanka, Asia Cup final 2010

This was the phase when the Indian team were stepping away from their abysmal records in tournament finals.

Back in 2010, the final of the Asia Cup was played at Dambulla, Sri Lanka. India won the toss and batted first on a good flat surface. After a relatively sedate start, Dinesh Karthik and MS Dhoni stitched together a solid stand as India reached 268/6 in their 50 overs.

And then, the Indian pacers stepped up and blew away the Sri Lankan top order as they were reduced to 51 runs for 5 wickets at one stage. A valiant half-century by Chamara Kapugedara only reduced the margin of defeat as the Indian team won the contest by 81 runs.

This was what Dhoni said at the end of the match, “The guys put in a lot of effort in terms of fitness and skill. This is an ideal reflection of that. Nice to win the Asia cup. We were happy to get 270 runs. We wanted to get Dilshan out quickly and the bowlers bowled really well. Once you are in a final and if you don’t win then what you did before that (in the tournament) doesn't matter. I expected that pitch will do a bit later. I know my bowlers. So I decided to bat. On his five dismissals: Thanks to the bowlers. They created the opportunities."