5 times a Dhoni led Indian team tied a match

No cricketer loves to take the game deep, absorb the pressure and then flourish under it quite like Mahendra Singh Dhoni. It is no surprise then, that quite a lot of games that Dhoni has been a part of or captained in, have resulted in ties. In a quirk of fate, Dhoni surprised everyone by captaining India for the 200th time in a match against Afghanistan - after a period of 696 days. He was still the same, old captain cool once again. And he did what no other captain has ever done before - He led the team to a tie for the 5th time ever - a world record in itself.

Here's a recap of all 5 One Day International matches when MS Dhoni has led India to a tie.

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#1 India vs England - Bengaluru 2011

This was the first instance when MS Dhoni led the Indian team to a tied match. India started off brilliantly with Sachin Tendulkar scoring 120 off 115 balls, followed by 50s by Gautam Gambhir and Yuvraj Singh. However, the lower middle order lost its way, with the last 6 batsmen scoring just under 60 runs. At the halfway stage, India were favourites having 338 runs on the board.

What followed in the second half was a tremendous batting display by the English captain Andrew Strauss, who top scored with 158 off 145 balls. Ian Bell was the second highest top scorer with 69. At one stage, England were cruising with the score at 281-2 in the 43rd over. However, Zaheer Khan pulled things back for India by dismissing Strauss and Bell in quick succession, bringing India back into the game. What followed was a nail-biter that ended with both teams scoring equal runs.

#2 India vs England - Lords 2011

This was the only shining light for India's disastrous tour of England in 2011, where they lost the Test series 4-0 and the ODI series 2-0.

India started off steadily with all the top 4 getting into double figures. However, it was the partnership between MS Dhoni and Suresh Raina that defined the innings. Raina scored 84 of 75 and Dhoni scored 78* of 71 to get India to a competitive total of 280.

RP Singh started off the second innings well by dismissing the openers quickly. What followed was a topsy-turvy game where Bell and Bopara played magnificently before 3 wickets in quick succession gave India the edge. But Bresnan and Swann brought things back for England by scoring 27 and 31 respectively. It then started raining and play had to be called off. The Duckworth-Lewis par for England at the time - 270-8: Exactly what England's score was.

This was a game which India could have won, but because of Duckworth-Lewis and rain intervention, the game resulted in a tie.

#3 India vs Sri Lanka - Adelaide 2012

What a thriller this game was! At a point, it seemed as if Dhoni was taking the game deep in the second innings just to make it more exciting. To be honest, India should have easily won this, yet, it resulted in a tie.

Indian bowlers bowled well to restrict Sri Lanka to 236-9 in 50 overs, with Chandimal top scoring with 81.

India were cruising to a victory in the second innings, with Gautam Gambhir playing at 91* and India requiring 50 of 58 with 6 wickets in hand. However, Kulasekara ran Gambhir out and soon, Dhoni started playing defensively - to an extent that India required 24 runs off the final 2 overs.

Malinga bowled the final over with India requiring 9 from 6. When it came down to 4 from 1 - everyone thought that the game was over and MS Dhoni was to blame for the loss. However, when Malinga bowled a wide yorker on the final ball, Dhoni scooped it over extra cover and ran 3 runs - resulting the game in a tie.

From India winning comfortably to India snatching a tie from the jaws of defeat, this was one of the more memorable run chases MS Dhoni has been a part of.

#4 India vs New Zealand - Auckland 2014

On a batting strip and a clear day in Auckland, Martin Guptill scored 111 against the Indian attack and New Zealand scored 314 in their 50 overs.

The game was even when the Indian openers were dismissed, the score lying at 72-2 in 13.1 overs. However, with the middle order collapsing and with Dhoni out at 184-6 in the 36th over, with India needing 131 of 86, it seemed the game was all but gone for India. However, to everyone's surprise, what followed was a display of confident shot making by Ashwin and Jadeja, who scored 65 and 66* respectively. They brought the chase down to 45 of 31 when Ashwin got out.

After this, Sir Jadeja took it upon himself to score the remaining runs required and played with astute confidence. With Shami and Bhuvaneshwar out then being dismissed, it looked like this game was all but gone for India, who required 18 runs off the final over and 13 off 3 balls. Right then, Jadeja scored a 4 and a 6 to quickly turn the tables, leaving India 2 runs off the final ball. The final ball, a yorker outside off by Anderson was played by Jadeja towards mid-off, but he only succeeded in getting a single, with the game tying at 314.

From nowhere, Jadeja brought India back to the game and was rightly adjudged Man of the Match in the tied encounter.

#5 India vs Afghanistan - Dubai 2018

MS Dhoni was back as captain after 696 days, with India opting to rest Virat Kohli for the series and Rohit for the dead-rubber. Everyone was surprised and switched on their TV sets to view captain cool possibly leading the Indian team for the last time ever. Mohammed Shahzad played brilliantly for Afghanistan by scoring 124 and Mohammed Nabi with 64, with Afghanistan ending with a respectable 252/8 in their 50 overs.

India got off to a superb start in the run chase with the score at 142/2 in the 26th over, before Dhoni was wrongly adjudged LBW and India didn't have a review left. It was a good chance for the middle/lower order to get some exposure in the run chase, but none of them were able to make significant contributions.

The runrate was never a problem for India, but wickets in hand were, with India needing 11 of 11 with 2 wickets remaining and 8 of 7 with 1 wicket remaining, Rashid Khan bowled the final over and when Jadeja scored a boundary of the second ball. It seemed India were home.

With 1 off 2 remaining and Jadeja on strike, India were disappointed when he mistimed a pull straight to midwicket, losing his wicket in the process and ending the game in what happened to be MS Dhoni's 5th tie as a captain.