‘Dhoni, captain cool,’ the placard held by an Indian fan appropriately sums up the magic of India’s cricket captain. ‘I don’t turn up in the ground to achieve anything special as a captain,’ MS Dhoni said after his team defended a modest 129 to defeat England and win the Champions Trophy on Sunday.
The British media also doffed their hats at the ‘pragmatic, ineffably calm captain’ and highlighted his leadership qualities which ultimately gave India a thrilling five-run victory in the rain-hit final.
‘India could hardly believe what was happening, though for MS Dhoni, their pragmatic, ineffably calm captain it was probably a normal day at the office. He had put the squeeze on England at the start and he has been round long enough to know that anything can happen in short-form cricket and often does,’ The Independent said.
The Daily Telegraph’ described Dhoni’s decision to bowl the last two overs with spinners as a ‘masterstroke’. ‘Completely confounding tradition, the last two overs were entrusted by MS Dhoni to spinners. Spin has been one of the surprising successes of the shortest format and Dhoni’s choice was a master stroke,’ the paper wrote.
For me, winning’s very important: MS
MS Dhoni preferred to remain grounded despite being the only captain to lift three ICC titles, 2007 World Twenty20, 2011 ODI World Cup and 2013 Champions Trophy.
‘I never turn up on the field to achieve something as a captain. For me, winning the game is very important,’ said Dhoni after Sunday’s nerve-wracking win over England in a rain-marred final that was reduced to 20 overs per side.
Dhoni drew similarities between 2007 World Twenty20 and 2013 Champions Trophy side, saying both teams had quite a few players who were making their comeback and were desperate to make their mark. ‘There is a bit of similarity between the first ICC T20 World Cup in 2007 and this tournament which we have won. In 2007, quite a number of players were making their comebacks into the team, so they wanted to do well desperately and be part of the team. Same is the case this time around too with many players wanting to do well and have a secondary position in the side,’ said Dhoni.
Asked if there was any pleasure in beating England after having been humiliated by them in the 2011 series, Dhoni said: ‘No, opposition is just opposition for us. It doesn’t really matter if we had beaten England in the final or some of the other sides because if you start looking at particular teams, winning the game becomes difficult. It doesn’t matter who we have. What’s important is that we have beaten them quite well.’