A surprise bowling change, quirky field placements, astute tactical decisions under pressure, and some gracious gestures. These are a few memories of MS Dhoni’s international career that will probably stick with India fans. Vote for your favourite below.
The biggest stage of them all, with India in a tricky situation chasing 275. MS Dhoni, not in the best of form, promotes himself ahead of Yuvraj Singh, in order to tackle the Muttiah Muralitharan threat. A crucial stand with Gautam Gambhir sees the momentum shift India’s way, and the Cup is clinched with a shot that will replay forever in the minds of India fans.
In his first match as India’s full-time Test captain, MS Dhoni’s gesture stood out. With one wicket needed for the win and enough time left, he let the retiring Sourav Ganguly, one of Indian cricket’s finest leaders, take charge for a couple of overs – the perfect farewell gift.
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Trophy posing: Letting the young ones take centre-stage
An India team tradition that started under MS Dhoni’s captaincy and continues till date. Newcomers or youngsters are handed over the trophy for the team photos. “It’s just that, if there is any youngster in the team who has performed well in the series and you hand him over the trophy, it works as an appraisal for him,” MS Dhoni told Aaj Tak at a book-launch function in 2013. “You are appreciating what he has done. It gives them a lot of confidence. At the end of the day, we have won the trophy. It doesn’t matter who holds it. But if I hand it over to some youngster and I’m getting some assurance that he could perform better in the future by this gesture, then it’s a win-win situation for us.”
In India’s corner: Virender Sehwag, Harbhajan Singh, Robin Uthappa. For Pakistan: Yasir Arafat, Umar Gul, Shahid Afridi.
A bowl-out to decide two points after a tied game in the group stage of the inaugural T20 World Cup. Dhoni trusted a couple of part-timers who were more effective during practice, and during the bowl-out he kneeled behind the stumps to make it easier for them to focus.
5 2016 T20 World Cup: Dhoni completes the heistIndia are on the brink. Bangladesh require two off the final three balls, but they lose their two set batsmen off consecutive deliveries. Two to defend. No. 9 on strike, with No. 10 for company. MSD has one glove off to be more prepared to effect a run-out in case the batsmen try to take a bye to tie the game. Hardik Pandya bowls it outside off, and Shuvagata Hom can’t reach it. Dhoni charges in and breaks the stumps, Mustafizur Rahman is caught short.
This one is not as baffling as Ishant in the 2013 Champions Trophy. Joginder Sharma was the only pace option available, and Harbhajan Singh – India’s most experienced bowler – had gone for runs. And not to forget the inspirational words. Misbah-ul-Haq’s scoop went wrong, and the rest is history.
No. 11 Ishant Sharma joined MSD with India needing 20 off 22 in the final against Sri Lanka in Port of Spain. MS Dhoni played out the next over from Lasith Malinga, not taking any singles, and trusted Ishant Sharma to face the 49th over from Angelo Mathews, leaving it to 15 from the final over to be bowled by the inexperienced Shaminda Eranga.
0, 6, 4, 6 and it’s another magical Dhoni finish.
A year later, against England, he refused singles with Ambati Rayudu at the other end, and failed to land the knockout punch.
Ishant Sharma’s three overs had gone for 27 in an ODI final that became a 20-over showdown. Umesh Yadav had two to go, R Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja and Bhuvneshwar Kumar one each, but Dhoni went with Ishant. It was a decision that baffled many. It was a decision that worked. How? We don’t really know.
With India out for 441 in the first innings and Australia progressing to 189 for 2 by stumps on day two, MS Dhoni employed a different trick on the third day. Zaheer Khan and Ishant Sharma bowled to the left-handers – Michael Hussey and Simon Katich – with eight fielders on the off side, and complemented their field by bowling a line wide outside off stump. Up 1-0 in the series and this being the final Test, India’s defensive tactics weren’t attractive but it worked: Australia added only another 166 in 85.4 overs before being bowled out.
MS Dhoni did something that a lot of us had never seen before in an international match. In England’s second innings, Dhoni got rid of his helmet and stood further behind the stumps whenever Jadeja bowled to left-hand batsmen. For right-hand batsmen, he would return to the normal position of standing up to the stumps. Later Dhoni revealed that on an uneven pitch he wanted two close-in fielders behind the stumps on the leg side without removing the fielder at short fine leg. Since only two fielders are allowed behind square on the leg side (besides the keeper), Dhoni stepped back.
Think we missed an obvious pick? Let us know in the comments.
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