On This Day in 2007: MS Dhoni kickstarts his captaincy career

image-l81qgbxiMS Dhoni (PC: Twitter)

14 September 2007, what's so special about this date? Does it ring a bell in your head? Does it transport you to that magical night at Kingsmead, Durban, where a golden era of Indian white-ball cricket kicked off in full force?

15 years ago, it was on this very day when MS Dhoni led India for the very first time in international cricket.

Actually, it was supposed to happen on the 13th as India were scheduled to open their T20I World Cup 2007 campaign against Scotland. But, that game got washed out without a ball being delivered.



24 hours later, as Dhoni walked out for toss, loads had changed in Indian cricket.

1] Firstly, the BCCI launched the Indian Premier League and Champions League T20 to curb the influx of overseas players in the rebel Indian Cricket League (ICL).

2] Secondly, Rahul Dravid shocked everyone by relinquishing leadership duties from all formats.

So, as India got ready to face arch-rivals Pakistan, they didn't have a Test and ODI captain, and the guy who was leading them at the World Cup had never captained at any level prior to it.

Dhoni gave a sense of aura and calmness

In his 2.5 year old international career, the wicketkeeper-batsman had seen it all: peak stardom and mass fan following almost rivalling the legendary Sachin Tendulkar and the absolute nadir following his disappointing returns with the bat in the 2007 ODI World Cup.

So, he had completed a full circle by the time he was appointed Indian captain. One can also say that given the hardships he had faced prior to making his India debut, he had already matured beyond his age by the time he donned the Indian colours in the winter of 2004.

Apart from his calm demeanour, it was his astute game-sense that caught the eye of everyone, especially Sachin, who was one of the main proponents of Dhoni taking over Indian captaincy after the board approached him to take over the reigns following Dravid's abrupt resignation.

As a wicketkeeper, Dhoni never shied away from giving bowler Sachin a piece of advice; an honest opinion, not just nodding head in agreement to what his senior said.

What Sachin saw in Dhoni, was on full show in the Ranchi cricketer's maiden match as Indian captain.

A fairytale captaincy debut for MS Dhoni that gave us a sneak peek into the future

In a way, it was quite symbolic that Dhoni found himself pushed to the wall in his very first outing as Indian captain.

And, no wonder, it brought out the best in him.

After Asif Ali's killer spell reduced India to 19-3 and then 36-4, Robin Uthappa (50 off 39), Dhoni (33 off 31) and Irfan Pathan (20 off 15) rearguard action lifted India to a competitive 141-9 in 20 overs.



Then, it was the turn of Dhoni- the captain- to apply the choke on the Pakistani batters; something that would become his forte in white-ball cricket for the next 15 years.

Pakistan were soon reduced to 87/5 at the end of the 15th over, before Misbah-ul-Haq (53 off 35) launched another counter-attack to nearly take Pakistan over the line.

Misbah smashed two fours in the final over to reduce the equation to 1 off the last two deliveries.

It looked done and dusted for India but then brilliant last two deliveries by Sreesanth and Dhoni's luck came to India's rescue as Misbah got run out on the final delivery to enforce a tie.

India had meticulously practiced throwing at stumps in order to be ready for a 'bowl out' situation in the tournament.



And, it was quite visible as they picked spinners and even a part-timer like Robin Uthappa as opposed to Pakistan, who picked fast bowlers to nail the three stumps.

Another thing that stood out was Dhoni option to kneel down a few yards away from the stumps even though spinners were in operation.

It gave a clear view of the stumps to the throwers, and, as it turned out, Virender Sehwag, Harbhajan Singh and Robin Uthappa nailed their target to complete a memorable win for India.

Dhoni's captaincy debut turned into a fairytale, and over the course of the next 10 days, Indian cricket had found a leader for the next decade.

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