5 forgotten victories of India under MS Dhoni's captaincy

#1 3rd ODI vs Pakistan (Delhi) – 2013

Dhoni was the only batsman from his team to offer any type of resistance to Pakistan's bowling attack

India and Pakistan played a bilateral series after 5 years when the latter toured India for a short limited-overs series (2 T20Is and 3 ODIs) in December-January (2012-13). After the T20 series ended 1-1, Pakistan took the one-day honours by winning the first two games.

India’s batsmen were found wanting against a quality bowling attack. Barring skipper MS Dhoni, none of the Indian batsmen crossed the 50-run mark. On a cold Delhi afternoon, India opted to bat first as they looked to avoid a humiliating whitewash.

A script similar to the first two ODIs seemed to transpire as the Indian batsmen failed to stand-up and deliver leaving the skipper to do the bulk of the scoring. He once again top-scored with 36 as India were all-out for 167.

Defending a mere 167 on a seam-friendly surface, the hosts got off to a very good start as Bhuvneshwar Kumar swung the ball viciously to reduce Pakistan to 14/2 in the 7th over. But Nasir Jamshed and Misbah-ul-Haq steadied the ship for Pakistan. India's spin duo of Ashwin and Jadeja evened the scales by weaving their magic. They scalped 3 wickets between them at crucial junctures.

The home team's pacers came back to dent Pakistan further who were reduced to 145/9. But with Hafeez still in the middle, the visitors still had hope. He hit Ishant Sharma for a couple of boundaries to put pressure back on India. But, eventually, Ishant got his man as India completed a consolation victory to avoid a whitewash on home soil.

Brief Scores: India 167 (Dhoni 36, Ajmal 5-24, Mohammed Irfan 2/28) beat Pakistan 157 (Jamshed 34, Misbah 39, Ishant 3-36, Bhuvneshwar 2/31)