Youth Incorporated Magazine

Taking important and right decisions under immense pressure, recognising and understanding the capabilities of each team member, and most importantly, keeping your cool in all circumstances are some of the most important qualities every captain must-have.

Our beloved Mahi was a perfect captain. His captainship skills and the results of his decisions were always seen on the field. When Dhoni whispers something in the ears of his team mates, magic has to happen on the field. 

Here are 5 incidents that prove that MS Dhoni was the coolest captain India has ever had

2007 India v/s Pakistan T20 World Cup

During this match, as both the teams had finished at 141 runs, the famous bowl-out took place. For this Dhoni chose Harbajhan Singh, and 2 part-timers Virender Sehwag and Robin Uthappa to bowl. India without any doubt, won the match.

2010 India v/s Australia Test Match

Despite losing in his first innings, Dhoni yet again selected Cheteshwar Pujara for the second innings and placed him at number three before Rahul Dravid. When Pujara completed 72 runs, the decision of Dhoni trusting Pujara’s batsman’s quality was completely justified. This helped the Indian team to take an undefeatable lead in the test series. 

2011 India India v/s Sri Lanka, India Wins The World Cup

Sri Lanka had set up a difficult goal of 274 runs before India. During the climax of the match, when the entire stadium was in sweats, entering the pitch at number 5 instead of Yuvraj Singh, Dhoni hit a six creating history and got home the world cup. 

2014 India v/s England 2nd Test Match

Taking Ishant Sharma in confidence, Dhoni asked him to bowl bodyline deliveries. He asked the bowler to stifle the British batsmen with bouncers. This paid off real well as Ishant ended up taking 5 crucial wickets.

2016 India v/s Bangladesh T20 match

To win, Bangladesh needed 2 runs in the last. Taking help of Hardik Pandya, Dhoni worked out a brilliant tactic by asking him to bowl a ‘back-of-length’ delivery. Pandya simply followed. Dhoni all prepared with one his glove taken out from his hands, he took a clear wicket making India win. 

While these are just a few examples, there are many such other moves played by Dhoni which made him a captain of par brilliance. If he retires, a player like him will surely be missed, especially the last helicopter shot which won India the world cup, but his play will always remain in the hearts of all the fans.