T20 World Cup | Top 5 decisions by MS Dhoni

MS Dhoni, one of the coolest minds of world cricket (PC: Twitter)

Indian cricket has witnessed too many great leaders in its history. From the inspiring leadership of Kapil Dev to the aggression personified by Virat Kohli, the list is seemingly endless. But the man who ruled the heart of 1.4 billion people - with his composure, calmness and guts - to take unorthodox calls at crucial junctures was MS Dhoni. 

In a career spanning 15 years, he led team India for 11 of those years. India played 6 T20 World Cups under MS Dhoni, winning the inaugural edition in 2007. During these 6 tournaments MSD took some momentum changing decisions that shifted the balance of the match in India's favour. Let us look at some of the top decisions by 'Captain Cool' in T20I World Cups. 

5. T20 World Cup 2009 vs West Indies, Bringing Yusuf Pathan into the bowling

Yusuf Pathan after dismissing Chris Gayle (PC: Twitter)

India and West Indies were facing each other at the Lord's in the T20 World Cup 0f 2009. India batted first in this match and set a target of 154 runs for the opposition. 

Chris Gayle was setting himself up for the launch. He got himself settled and was batting at 22 from 28 balls, when in the 8th over MSD introduced Yusuf Pathan into the attack. It was a surprising decision as Harbhajan Singh bowled a maiden over prior to that.

But the decision paid off as on the fourth ball of the over Gayle top edged a pull shot which was caught by Zaheer Khan at short fine leg. Although India lost the match by 7 wickets but the wicket of Gayle at that stage brought India back into the match. 

4. T20 World Cup 2012 vs England, Coming upto the stumps for Irfan Pathan

Irfan Pathan after dismissing Luke Wright (PC: Twitter)

In this India was playing England at Colombo. Batting first India scored 170 runs in their 20 overs. 

During England's chase in the 3rd over, while Irfan Pathan was bowling both Craig Kieswetter and Luke Wright was looking to step down the track and take the attack to the bowler. MSD noticed this and came up to the stumps to keep. This prevented Wright's initial forward movement and hence he was trapped LBW by Irfan. 

The loss of Luke Wright started a collapse for England and they were bundled out for just 80 runs by the Indian bowling line up. 

3. T20 World Cup 2016 vs Bangladesh, Running to the stumps instead of throwing to dislodge the bails

MS Dhoni's famous sprint vs Bangladesh (PC: Twitter)

In the T20I World Cup of 2016 India and Bangladesh were engaged in a thrilling contest. Indian won this match by just 1 run and that too due to the match awareness displayed by MS Dhoni.

Of the final delivery of the match Bangladesh needed 2 runs to win, a single would have meant a tie. Hardik Pandya was bowling to Shuvagata Hom. A short pitched ball outside the off stump beat the outside edge of the batter and landed in the hands of MSD. The duo started running but Dhoni kept his cool. He did not throw the ball but trusted his own speed and started running towards the stumps.

He dislodged the bails and the replays show that he did all this before the batter reached the crease. The decisiveness and the faith on his own capability was clear in this instance. 

2. T20 World Cup 2007 vs Pakistan (Group Stage), Using horses for courses for the bowl out

Robin Uthappa after hitting the stumps (PC: Twitter)

This was India's first match in the inaugural T20I World Cup in 2007. India batted first in the match and were able to score 141 runs in their 20 overs. 

In a dramatic last over by Sreesanth, India held their nerves and managed to tie the match. At that time a tied game was to be decided by a 'bowl out' instead of a 'super over', which is the convention now-a-days. 

Bowl out was all about the team hitting the three stumps more number of times out of the five opportunities they are allowed. Pakistan selected their three conventional bowlers in Shahid Afridi, Umar Gul and Yasir Arafat and all of them failed to hit the stumps.

On the other hand India went for Virender Sehwag, Harbhajan Singh and Robin Uthappa to everyone's surprise. Both Sehwag and Uthappa were per-timers, even Uthappa was not a bowler also. But all three of the Indian players hit the target and won the bowl out.

Later it was revealed that MSD had made the team practice bowl outs before the tournament and he had a clear idea of who were his bet options. 

1. T20 World Cup 2007 vs Pakistan (Final), using Joginder Sharma for the last over

Joginder Sharma bowled the last over for India in T20 World Cup 2007 (PC: Twitter)

An India-Pakistan final in the inaugural T20 World Cup, its a dream encounter for every cricket fan. India batted first in the match and scored 157 runs in their 20 overs. 

Of the final over of the match, Pakistan needed 13 runs of the last over. India had the option of either using experienced Harbhajan Singh or the medium pace Joginder Sharma for this over. Most captains would have trusted Harbhajan for this over. 

But MSD thought differently, he considered the fact that Bhajji has been taken to the cleaners by Misbah-ul-Haq, the man on strike in the previous over. Also it would have been easier for Misbah to access the shorter boundary on the leg side with Bhajji's ball coming into him. So, MS gave the ball to Joginder Sharma, who also did the duty in he semi-final match against Australia.

Well, the rest is history as Misbah managed to mistime a scoop of a slower good length delivery straight into the hands of Sreesanth at short fine leg. India won the match by 5 runs and with that the inaugural edition of the T20 World Cup. 

MSD's strategic acumen and match awareness will remain unparalleled for a long time in cricket. These were just some of his landmark on-field decisions, there are many such instances where he changed the course of the game with only his thought process. 

Also Read: T20 World Cup: India's death bowling woes