By: Tarish Bhatt
There are aggressive captains, strategists, opportunists, and then there is MS Dhoni, who backs his instincts more often than not. Be it any format, Dhoni is India’s most successful captain and is also arguably the best in the world.
His decision of bringing Joginder Sharma in the final over of the inaugural T20, promoting himself in the 2011 World Cup final, making subtle bowling changes are some of the features, which make him an instinctive captain.
Dhoni has an ability of bringing the best out of his resources and that is what he did with the Chennai Super Kings in the recently concluded Indian Premier League (IPL). The Super Kings were clearly far from their best, yet they managed to reach the final.
“It was more of a team effort coming to the final,” Dhoni said. “But I don’t think we reached hundred per cent efficiency level because there are quite a few cricketers in our side who haven’t done as well as they should have.”
The Chennai Super Kings skipper marshalled his troops quite well in the whole tournament. They finished at the top and managed to beat high-flying Royal Challengers Bangalore in the qualifier, despite not having Brendon McCullum in the side.
Chennai did manage to get a few individual brilliances to reach the final, but there was a lack of coherent effort from the side. It is very difficult to imagine a team reaching the final without a team effort, still Dhoni managed to steer his side in the final.
“We have contributed as a team when needed and individuals have taken the responsibility,” Dhoni said. “But what is important is, at times when the stakes are high, for the individuals to give match winning performances but that has not happened in this IPL.”
Dhoni almost had the final in his grasp when he surprisingly brought Dwayne Smith for the first time to bowl in the tournament. Smith responded immediately with a wicket of well-set Lendl Simmons to bring the Chennai Super Kings right back in the match.
CSK’s batting, however, failed to get going in the chase and crumbled under scoreboard pressure. But, once again, Dhoni proved his captaincy prowess by taking the Chennai Super Kings to the IPL final for a record sixth time.
