Dhoni along with Sehwag wreaked havoc on the Pakistan bowlers and the duo formed a run stand, which saw Sehwag going past the run mark. Sehwag 74 was sent back to the pavilion in the 14th over, but the wicket-keeper batsman Dhoni then found support in Rahul Dravid and the duo formed a run stand. India then managed to defend the total as the side bundled out Pakistan for as Ashish Nehra scalped four wickets. During his leadership, India also managed to attain the number one ranking in Test cricket.
Nevertheless, in a few months, the stars started to align themselves for the precocious wunderkind from Ranchi. Dhoni immediately caught the eyes of the scouts and was sent on an A tour to Kenya, where his talent burst forth for the world to see as he showcased his batting pyrotechnics against world-class bowlers in alien conditions.
He immediately shot to national reckoning and was selected for the tour of Bangladesh in November However, the selectors and the then-captain Sourav Ganguly decided to persist with him and gave him an extended run.
Technique There have always been questions about Dhoni's technique, and how ugly it looks. And the assessment of Dhoni's technique points out one of the major follies in our game - the temptation to judge by aesthetics rather than functionality.
Technique is a product of how you get something done and not a step by step physical procedure as to how to do it. The method to achieve the fundamental virtues of the game rely on your abilities and aptitude to execute them in a particular way. Dhoni looks unorthodox at the crease, but he gets back and across. Instead of punching with his fore-arms, he bludgeons it with his wrists, with a low back-lift, ensuring that he plays it late.
Most importantly, he has a still head while perceiving the line of the ball and at the point of contact. He also has an open stance allowing him to pull easily by getting to the back-foot early.
And just like that, all the virtues of batting are achieved by him, albeit with a slightly out-of-the-box method. As teams all over the world tried to work a way around his fireworks, Dhoni established himself as a reliable batsman in Tests too, with a technique that worked against pace, seam, swing and spin.
In his 5th Test, he coincidentally scored another against Pakistan in an uncharacteristically stoic effort to save the match, thereby portraying his versatility as a batsman. After a string of wicketkeeper-batsmen being tried in the side, Dhoni had finally become a mainstay in the side - a powerful pinch-hitter towards the end of the innings capable of more than just cameos, and a more-than-reliable wicketkeeper in the side.
In a state where leather ball cricket was a luxury, Dhoni grew up playing tennis ball cricket tournaments. With heavy Kashmir willow bats, light and hollow tennis balls, and long boundaries, he developed a bottomhand-dominated technique to impart maximum power on the light tennis ball which undergoes energy-damping upon impact. However, Dhoni stood out when he, along with a friend, developed an elevated body-weight shot with an exaggerated follow-through that cleared boundaries with ease.
On that count, cricketing folklore will remember MS Dhoni as the man who had the audacity to play the 'helicopter shot' against the leather ball. Captaincy With a mature head on his shoulders and an astute and shrewd cricketing mind, Dhoni was recommended by senior players like Sachin Tendulkar and Rahul Dravid for captaincy after Rahul Dravid stepped down as skipper.
On his first assignment in the inaugural World T20 in , Dhoni and his young troops romped to the title in a shock victory for the inexperienced Indian side, bringing about the T20 revolution in India. He was soon handed the ODI leadership as a natural move after his World T20 triumph, and after the retirement of Anil Kumble in late , the Test leadership was thrust upon him too.
It was true. MS Dhoni, the powerful biffer of leather who could clear the area code with the willow, had now become a gritty accumulator, who seemed to be playing a lot more responsibly. However, over the years, Dhoni delivered performances with his new reserved approach and developed the ability to move in and out of his rampage zone.
He had inherited the good qualities of his accomplished seniors in the team - carving his game as per the requirement of the team. Dhoni had a golden run as captain, with an unbeaten run in Test series since his captaincy debut, leading them to their first stint as the top-ranked Test team in the world. His winning streak included the home series against Australia in , a triumph in New Zealand in , and a victory against Sri Lanka at home, culminating in a comprehensive win at the Brabourne stadium, Mumbai, where he received the coveted Test Championship mace.
India continued to dominate in home Tests after this and drew a series in South Africa, coming very close to their maiden series win in South Africa in the decider in Cape Town, where some stoic resistance by the hosts narrowly saved them from the a defeat at the hands of a rampaging Indian side in top form. Dhoni continued to garner praise for his success across formats; especially for his clinical success in limited-overs cricket, reaching the pinnacle of his captaincy career during India's path to glory in the World Cup.
Dhoni's shrewd captaincy came under severe scrutiny during the 8 successive losses in England and Australia. In the aftermath of the overseas failures, which included England toppling them over as the number 1 Test side in the world, a fatigued Indian side faced a drubbing against England at home as India's Test team hit rockbottom.
The team's abysmal performances in the longer format raised serious questions about Dhoni's leadership and a whisper of his sacking; a somewhat misplaced and impulsive proposition, given the poor overall performance of the entire team, their inept technique against spin which is their forte , an overflowing timetable, and a plethora of viable explanations.
However, the transition phase in Indian cricket saw the famed batting line-up failing to meet their lofty standards, and a rather raw bowling fast-bowling line-up with negligible experience struggling, as Zaheer Khan suffering from a long-term injury.
There was only so much Dhoni could do However, after taking some tough selection calls, Dhoni led the way in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy with a marathon in Chennai, setting the platform for a clean-sweep of Australia at home, clinically blanking them to regain the trophy. India became the first team in more than 40 years to whitewash Australia in a Test series and Dhoni now had the most Test wins for an Indian captain under his belt. Dhoni was playing for Asia XI.
The Asia XI was in huge trouble when they lost their top 5 batsmen for just 72 runs. Both the batsmen played carefully and built up a strong partnership, which was the need of the hour.
This huge partnership changed the complexion of the game. Both Dhoni and Jayawardene slammed hundreds. This hundred from Dhoni was his 3rd in the ODIs.
The partnership of runs helped the team to reach a mammoth total of runs in 50 overs. Mahela Jayawardene scored a solid runs and MS Dhoni was there till the end. After the openers gave them a solid start. Both Dhoni and Raina cashed in with their centuries.
India scored a huge mammoth total of runs in 50 Overs. Thanks to 2 fifties from Sehwag and Gambhir and 2 hundreds from Raina and Dhoni. After losing the first ODI, India had to play well to be alive in the series. In that match, Australia won the toss and chose to bowl because they were confident of chasing runs. Peter Siddle got the first breakthrough for Australia. He took the wicket of the Little Master Sachin Tendulkar.
Sehwag also got out in the 10th over. Yuvraj Singh also did not last too long. Then came Dhoni with Gambhir. Their partnership was the need of that hour and both the players did exactly that.
With Gambhir, Dhoni added runs for the 4th wicket and with Raina, he added runs. Both Gambhir and Raina departed after getting starts, they did not convert them. Dhoni saw these mistakes made by these two players.
He converted his good start and made this into a magical hundred. Due to his hundred and the contribution from Gambhir and Raina, India posted runs in their 50 overs.
0コメント