5 trophies India will always thank MS Dhoni for

If there was someone who could beat George RR Martin in unpredictability, it might be our very own ‘Thala’, MS Dhoni. Dhoni did, what Dhoni always does – Keep calm and do what’s best for the country. He could’ve walked out in style from the captaincy many a time in the past. But, what time does he choose – when his successor is ready for the job and the reins could be handed over to him – so that he has enough time to prepare for the Champions Trophy this year and the 50 over World Cup in 2019.

Dhoni has put his career at risk too, making himself available as a pure wicket-keeper batsman. That may raise a dilemma in the selectors’ minds – should they persist with him till 2019 and give him a final hurrah, or if they choose to blood in a young Rishabh Pant, so he could be groomed before 2019. But, that debate is for another day. India may not see a leader like Dhoni again on the field.

He won everything there is to be won by a cricket captain – the only captain to have won the ICC Test Mace, the ICC ODI World Cup, the ICC T20 World Cup and the Champions Trophy. It is hard to imagine any other skipper repeating that incredible feat. It is a testimony of his out-of-the-box thinking, his unusual, almost super-human calmness and above all, the ability to separate sport from emotion and push to the best of your abilities.

We try to relive 5 of MS Dhoni’s biggest trophies in the shorter formats of the game.

---

#5 2011 ICC ODI World Cup, India

Ian Chappell summed it up beautifully when he called Dhoni one of the finest leaders in cricket over the last 30 years, coaxing the best out of a side which didn’t really have a strong bowling attack – the hallmark of any good ODI side.

Under Dhoni, India became the first team to lift the World Cup in its own country and he did it with a bowling attack that constantly needed chopping and changing (Zaheer was the only constant, Ashwin came in late for Piyush Chawla, Yuvraj became more than a part-timer and Nehra was ruled out of the Final because of injury).

All those challenges put aside, Dhoni along with Gautam Gambhir, conjured a masterclass in high-pressure-chase and his own knock would go down as one of the top 10 ODI innings of all time in terms of significance and importance.

In the league stage, India lost against South Africa and tied with England despite posting massive scores but peaked at the right time, beating Australia, Pakistan and finally, Sri Lanka in three big knock-out matches. And as usual, Dhoni saved his best for the last. Special credit to the way he marshalled his resources on a good batting track in a small ground at Wankhede, where Sri Lanka could have out-batted India but didn’t.

Like a gentleman, he even let Sangakkara walk away with the toss despite losing it the first time in a bizarre fashion. His biggest show of emotion during that entire tournament was him hitting the pads with his bat after running a risky run against Sri Lanka during the chase in the Final. Promoting himself over Yuvraj to face Muralitharan, knowing how everyone would bay for his blood if it backfires – that’s classic Dhoni for you!

#4 2007 ICC T20 World Cup, South Africa

The T20 World Cup in 2007 was the first major trophy for Dhoni as captain

India had an experimental side and no one really knew at that point, how big T20 would become. Handing over the reins to a 26-year old swashbuckling keeper-batsman seemed too rebellious to be true and not much was expected. Dhoni knew a thing or two about proving detractors wrong when they expected nothing, hailing from Jharkhand, their Ranji team wasn’t even mentioned in Ranji Trophy folklore until he appeared on the scene.

But the selectors’ decision turned out to be a masterstroke and with a team full of future super-stars, Dhoni won for India the inaugural ICC T20 World Cup – 24 years after it had won its last World Cup. Yuvraj’s knocks, India’s tie with Pakistan and the bowl-out, the unlikely win against the home team, South Africa, beating a strong Australian side in the semi-final and then finally the arch-rivals Pakistan in the final – it was a fairy-tale and as clichéd as it sounds, a legend was born.

That juggernaut didn’t stop for a decade, winning everything in its wake. And how can we forget the move to let Joginder Sharma bowl probably India’s most memorable over?

2013 Champions Trophy, England & Wales

Dhoni won the third of the major trophies in 2013 with victory in the Champions Trophy

The Champions Trophy always carried a little jinx for India. In 2000, in Kenya, India mauled South Africa and Australia only to lose to underdogs New Zealand in the final (Ganguly was rarely lucky with finals). In 2002, India had to share the trophy with Sri Lanka as the final was washed out.

It took them 11 more years to reach the final and under Dhoni, they did it with style winning every game with panache. However, the final needed a Dhoni master-stroke and at a crucial moment, when England seemed to be cruising towards a title win on their home-ground, chasing a meagre 129 in a rain-curtailed 20 over game, Dhoni gives Ishant Sharma, out-of-form and low-on-confidence, the ball.

England capitulated, India won by a mere 5 runs and Dhoni completed the hallowed triple in cricket – 50 Over World Cup, 20 Over World Cup and Champions Trophy. Hard to see a captain equalling that!

2008 Commonwealth Bank Series, Australia

The CB series victory in Australia in 2008

Australia is probably one of the toughest tournaments to win and over the years, through the 80s and 90s, only one team had managed to challenge Australia – West Indies. During the 2000s when Australia was indomitable, very few teams could challenge its supremacy. South Africa won the CB Series in 2001/02 and England pulled it off in 2006/07.

In 2007/08, Ganguly was given the sack to blood youngsters of Rohit Sharma and Gautam Gambhir’s ilk and they did everyone proud. India didn’t need a third final as they won the first two.

Sachin Tendulkar scored an unbeaten century chasing 242 in the first and scored 91 in the second to help India post 258, which they defended against an Australian side that had Adam Gilchrist, Matthew Hayden, Ricky Ponting, Michael Clarke, Michael Hussey and Andrew Symonds (their best ODI batting line-up arguably). Praveen Kumar was the bowling hero picking 4 wickets.

2010 Asia Cup, Sri Lanka

Another trophy in the bag – the Asia Cup

The Asia Cup is a matter of pride for the sub-continental teams. India and Sri Lanka have both won it five times, Pakistan winning it twice. This will go down as one of Dhoni’s more memorable tournament wins for two reasons – after the World Cup and Champions Trophy, this is the most prestigious ODI tournament for the sub-continental teams. Secondly, prior to 2010, India had last won the Asia Cup way back in 1995 – a hat-trick winning in 1988 and 1990/91 as well.

It was 15 years before India won the trophy again with Sri Lanka winning it thrice and Pakistan once. All three of Sri Lanka’s wins came against India, the runners-up each time, making matters worse. India avenged it eventually by beating Sri Lanka in the final in their own den at Dambulla, despite having lost to the latter in the league stage.

India would also go on to win the Asia Cup in 2016 in the T20I format, its first edition, under Dhoni (Dhoni even gave the finishing touch with a 6-ball 20* in the final against Bangladesh in the end, to show who is the boss) establishing itself as Asia’s most successful short-format team.