5 brilliant decisions that Dhoni took as Indian captain
His greatest critics have called him the mindless gambler while some consider him to be blessed by luck herself. Call him what you will, MS Dhoni has to be the most extraordinary captain India has ever produced. Statistically, he is now the most successful Indian captain. Kapil Dev was the first Indian captain to lift the world cup trophy, and Sourav Ganguly could easily be the most astute skipper who built one of the greatest Indian teams ever out of the ashes of the match-fixing scandal.
But who would have thought that the boy from Ranchi with his helicopter shots and long hair would one day go on to be one of the most exemplary Indian captains? He can think out of the box that shows, at times, what a tremendous cricketing brain he has. Let us look at five brilliant captaincy decisions by Dhoni that prove he is the cleverest ever Indian captain.
5. Asking Uthappa to bowl in a bowl-out
It has been perhaps forgotten by many that before the famous final, India and Pakistan were engaged in a thrilling contest in the group stages of the inaugural edition of the ICC World T20 in 2007.
The match had been a low-scoring affair with India scoring 141 and Misbah, even on that occasion, had played a heroic innings but failed to carry Pakistan over the line as he got run out off the last ball. With the match ending in a tie, the teams had to take part in a bowl-out as was the convention in that tournament.
Pakistan went for their faster bowlers besides Afridi, and all of them including Yasir Arafat and Umar Gul missed the stumps. Dhoni quickly understood that in a bowl-out, the slower bowlers stood a better chance. He opted for Sehwag, Harbhajan and to everyone's surprise, Robin Uthappa! All of them hit the bull's eye, and India won the match.
4. Bowling Ishant Sharma in the 18th over of the Champions Trophy 2013 final
India had had a great tournament going into the Champions Trophy 2013 final, but all the batsmen failed to make an impact on the big day. India only managed 129 for seven off 20 overs, and England were firm favourites to win the contest.
But MS Dhoni had other ideas. He cleverly marshalled his troops and kept the pressure mounting on England. All Indian bowlers had bowled well except Ishant Sharma who proved to be very expensive. Even when the spinners were bowling so well, Dhoni inexplicably opted for Ishant Sharma in the 18th over.
Sharma bowled a splendid over picking up both the set batsmen, Eoin Morgan and Ravi Bopara, and thus turning the match on its head. Bowling out Ishant also gave Dhoni the option of going for spin in the last two overs which ultimately proved to be master-stroke. India defended the low total successfully, and Dhoni became the first captain in the world to have won all possible ICC trophies.
3. Sending Pujara in at No. 3 on his debut
Though Cheteshwar Pujara was considered to be a promising talent, he had failed in the first innings of his debut Test at Bangalore in 2010 and was under immense pressure already.
In the second innings, however, things changed radically for him as the Indian captain MS Dhoni did almost the unthinkable. He sent in Pujara at No. 3 ahead of senior statesman Rahul Dravid.
Pujara, pleasantly surprised by the confidence showed in him by the skipper, obliged him by playing a scintillating knock of 72 that is fondly remembered by cricket enthusiasts till date. India went on to win the Test match and took an unassailable lead in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy.
And in Pujara, a star was born that day. It was clear that Dhoni had already seen in him the future No. 3 batsman of Indian cricket who would eventually replace Dravid in Tests.
2. Giving Joginder Sharma the ball in the last over of the ICC World T20 final in 2007
Dhoni's exemplary captaincy had already taken India to the final of the inaugural ICC T20 in 2007. In a tournament where India's big guns had opted out, Dhoni's men had already exceeded expectations. But the final was against Pakistan, a match you would not want to lose normally.
After a long-winding match of unpredictable thrills, it all came down to the last over with Pakistan needing just 13 runs for victory. Pakistan had had a middle-order collapse and seemed to be out of the match much earlier but for the heroics of Misbah-ul-Haq who kept their hopes alive.
It was expected that Dhoni would go to his senior bowler Harbhajan Singh for the last over but he surprised everyone by calling in Joginder Sharma to bowl. Harbhajan had proved costly, and Misbah was dispatching the spinners easily, which might have prompted Dhoni's decision.
Joginder Sharma later said that Dhoni had told him he would shoulder all the responsibilities if they lost the match. Misbah hit him for a massive six off a full toss and feeling confident, got a bit cocky trying to scoop his next delivery over short fine leg. But he got out caught, and Dhoni's men pulled off a memorable victory.
1. Promoting himself to No. 5 in the 2011 World Cup Final
The nation had gone into a frenzy by the time India had reached the final of the World Cup in 2011. Expectations were high that the home team would triumph, but amidst the joyous revelry, there were grave concerns about MS Dhoni's form. All of that was about to change very soon.
Chasing a formidable target of 275 for victory, India had been rocked hard by the dismissals of Sachin and Sehwag. Gambhir and Kohli had somewhat steadied the ship only for Kohli to get out at the wrong time. Surprising everyone, in walked MS Dhoni at number 4 ahead of the eventual Man of the Tournament, Yuvraj Singh.
What followed in the next couple of hours was the work of an artist executed with cold-blooded precision. He ran hard between the wickets, and he cut, and he pulled. Malinga's toe-crushing yorkers were nonchalantly flicked to the boundary.
And when he won the cup with a splendid six over long on which will be replayed on television for centuries, the nation erupted. He had truly, in the words of David Gower, 'demolished' the opposition.