One of the major factors behind MS Dhoni’s success as captain at International cricket and also in the IPL has been his smart thinking. The keeper-batsman has control of the things that happen around in a given match. He tries to take a gamble with the situation and most of them go his way.

Dhoni’s presence of mind with respect to bowling changes did help India clinch 2007 WT20 and 2013 Champions Trophy. There are quite a lot of examples from Dhoni’s career where he turned the matches with his smartness.

Here we look at a few occasions where Dhoni’s sharp thinking benefited his team on the field:

5. Chennai Super Kings vs Mumbai Indians in Mumbai, 2010

<img loading="lazy" class="size-full wp-image-412786" src="https://crictracker-admin-panel-08032022.s3.ap-south-1.amazonaws.com/media/attachments/MS-Dhoni-3-1.jpg" alt="MS Dhoni" width="640" height="400" sizes="(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px"><figcaption id="caption-attachment-412786" class="wp-caption-text">MS Dhoni. (Photo Source: SESHADRI SUKUMAR/AFP/GettyImages)</figcaption>

Mumbai Indians and Chennai Super Kings faced off at the Mumbai’s DY Patil Stadium in the 2010 edition final. It was the first time both the captains of an IPL final were Indian players. CSK, who batted first, finished with 168/5 in their 20 overs thanks to an unbeaten 57 off 35 balls by <a href="https://www.crictracker.com/faf-du-plessis-picks-suresh-rainas-53-ball-ton-against-kings-xi-punjab-in-2013-as-his-favourite-ipl-memory/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"><strong>Suresh Raina</strong></a>. MI messed around their batting order and left a lot to chase towards the end.

Kieron Pollard walked in at No.8 when MI was needing 55 runs from only 18 deliveries. Pollard had the reputation of chasing impossible targets as well and showed a glimpse of that by smashing 22 runs in the 18th over bowled by Doug Bollinger. The West Indian all-rounder smashed a boundary past Albie Morkel in the 19th over which made MS Dhoni place Matthew Hayden just to the left of Morkel’s run-up.

Pollard ended up hitting the last ball of the penultimate over straight to the Dhoni’s made up fielding position. MI scored only three more runs and lost the match by 22 runs. A similar strategy worked against Pollard in the 2017 IPL final between Mumbai Indians and Rising Pune Supergiant. Pollard found straight long-off fielder in Adam Zampa’s bowling only a couple of balls after smashing a maximum. It is, however, unsure if it was Dhoni’s idea or skipper Smith’s plan.

<img loading="lazy" class="size-full wp-image-412783" src="https://crictracker-admin-panel-08032022.s3.ap-south-1.amazonaws.com/media/attachments/MS-Dhoni-1.jpg" alt="MS Dhoni. (Photo by Scott Barbour/Getty Images)" width="640" height="400" sizes="(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px"><figcaption id="caption-attachment-412783" class="wp-caption-text">MS Dhoni. (Photo by Scott Barbour/Getty Images). (Photo by Stu Forster/Getty Images)</figcaption>

The Border-Gavaskar Trophy in Australia during the 2014-15 season gave the first signs of how far Steve Smith could go in the list of Test greats. He recorded unbeaten knocks of 162 and 52 during a close win in Adelaide and followed it with a 133 in the Brisbane Test victory. In the 2nd innings of the game, he was run out for 28 runs when Australia was six runs away from a win. He bounced back with a 192-run knock in the Boxing Day Test; his 3rd ton of the series.

India minimized Australia’s first-innings lead to 65 runs but the home team’s openers scored fifties in the 2nd essay. India needed to take wickets for having a chance of winning the game. Captain MS Dhoni put Ajinkya Rahane at leg slip position a ball before drinks break in the post-lunch session on day 4. <a href="https://www.crictracker.com/thoda-bura-to-lagta-hai-umesh-yadav-opens-up-about-not-getting-enough-chances-in-the-indian-team/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"><strong>Umesh Yadav</strong></a>, who has the habit of bowling way too many balls on the leg stump, seemed ideal to make Smith flick towards the leg side.

As Dhoni anticipated, he flicked one into the hands of Rahane and was dismissed for 14 runs. It was his lowest score in the 4-match Test series as he smashed 117 and 71 respectively in the last Test at the Sydney Cricket Ground. Dhoni always loved to set up a leg slip but it was quite common when the spinners were bowling but not much when the pacers were in action. Many teams have followed the leg slip tactic against Smith backed by aggressive bowling lines.

3. Rising Pune Supergiant vs Mumbai Indians in Pune, 2017

<img loading="lazy" class="size-full wp-image-410559" src="https://crictracker-admin-panel-08032022.s3.ap-south-1.amazonaws.com/media/attachments/MS-Dhoni-RPS.jpg" alt="MS Dhoni RPS" width="640" height="400" sizes="(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px"><figcaption id="caption-attachment-410559" class="wp-caption-text">MS Dhoni RPS. (Photo Source: Twitter)</figcaption>

Rising Pune Supergiant began their campaign in IPL 2017 against Mumbai Indians in their home ground Pune. The franchise made a change of captaincy ahead of the season as Steve Smith took over from MS Dhoni. After electing to bowl first, the Pune team contained the Mumbai Indians during the middle-overs. But a 30-run final over with Hardik Pandya at the crease powered their total to 184/8. Pune got off to a quick start in the chase as Ajinkya Rahane scored an aggressive 60 from 34 deliveries.

The new skipper Smith anchored the chase while the required rate slowly crept to 10. Smith also completed his fifty by the time Dhoni arrived at the crease in the 16th over. Pune was 20 runs away from a win in the final two overs which were to be bowled by <a href="https://www.crictracker.com/yuvi-paa-what-a-hairstyle-jasprit-bumrah-hilariously-trolls-yuvraj-singh/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"><strong>Jasprit Bumrah</strong></a> and one among Kieron Pollard and Krunal Pandya. Bumrah gave away only two runs in the first four balls of the 19th over including consecutive dot balls to Dhoni. However, MSD found a boundary on the following delivery.

The equation came down to 14 from 7 balls when Dhoni skied the last ball of the penultimate over towards long-on. Dhoni, aware of the chance of getting out, stopped Smith from crossing over which could put a new batsman at the crease for the final over. But Tim Southee spilt an easy chance and Dhoni-Smith pair realized it and picked up a single. Pollard began the last over giving away only 3 runs in the first three balls but Smith smashed back to back sixes to finish off the chase.

<img loading="lazy" class="size-full wp-image-412782" src="https://crictracker-admin-panel-08032022.s3.ap-south-1.amazonaws.com/media/attachments/MS-Dhoni.jpg" alt="MS Dhoni" width="640" height="400" sizes="(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px"><figcaption id="caption-attachment-412782" class="wp-caption-text">MS Dhoni. (Photo by Scott Barbour/Getty Images)</figcaption>

MS Dhoni’s captaincy career got off to a great start as India won the inaugural edition of the T20 World Cup. However, his first ODI series turned out to be a tough one as India lost the 7-match series by 2-4 margin against the Aussies. In the following series, India took on Pakistan at home during a 5-match series. The first game was hosted by Guwahati where Pakistan struggled to get going after electing to bat first. They scored only 105 runs for the loss of three wickets by the end of the 30th over.

Shahid Afridi was sent up at No.5 to improve the scoring rate as he added 42 runs in 6 overs with Mohammad Yousuf. Dhoni handed the ball to Sachin Tendulkar and made him bowl leg-spin from round the wicket. Sachin gave away only two runs in his first over but Afridi showed signs of coming down the track. In his next over, Sachin kept the ball on leg-stump to Afridi who came down the track to score 7 runs in the first three balls including a four. Afridi was back on strike for the 5th ball of the over.

Skipper Dhoni insisted Sachin to bowl near to the wide line while he was in his delivery stride. Sachin executed it to the perfection and left Afridi beaten a couple of meters down the crease. Dhoni quickly removed the bails to send back the dangerous batsman for a 32-ball 31. Mohammad Yousuf’s unbeaten 82 off 88 balls pushed Pakistan&#8217;s total to 239/7 which India chased down with three overs and five wickets in hand. India could have been chasing around 260 on a tricky pitch if not for a well-planned dismissal of Afridi.

1. Chennai Super Kings vs Kolkata Knight Riders in Chennai, 2008

<img loading="lazy" class="size-full wp-image-412784" src="https://crictracker-admin-panel-08032022.s3.ap-south-1.amazonaws.com/media/attachments/MS-Dhoni-2-1.jpg" alt="MS Dhoni" width="640" height="400" sizes="(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px"><figcaption id="caption-attachment-412784" class="wp-caption-text">MS Dhoni. (Photo Source: Manjunath Kiran/AFP/GettyImages)</figcaption>

Chennai Super Kings began the inaugural season with back to back wins and so did the Kolkata Knight Riders. The two sides faced off at the Chepauk stadium in the 11th match of the league phase. <a href="https://www.crictracker.com/brendon-mccullum-responds-after-fan-impersonates-his-batting-technique-in-a-video/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"><strong>Brendon McCullum</strong></a> struck 2 fours and 2 sixes during his 12-ball 24 while Wriddhiman Saha made 27 off 16 balls after KKR elected to bat first. The Knight Riders were going close to 11 runs an over in the powerplay.

But the CSK bowlers pulled back the things to reduce the visitors to 98/6 by 15th over. Laxmi Ratan Shukla began to take control with a couple of boundaries towards the end. He struck back to back boundaries on first two balls of the 20th over as KKR inched closer to 150. Joginder Sharma nailed a yorker on the penultimate ball of the KKR innings which Shukla failed to connect.

The Bengal player didn’t move out of his crease but the non-striker Ishant Sharma went down to the other end in hope of finding a bye. The CSK skipper MS Dhoni threw the ball to Joginder but insisted not to take the bails off. Dhoni found Shukla moving out of the crease and found a chance of running out the all-rounder instead of Ishant. Shukla patted the back of the pacer for sacrificing his wicket for the team cause.

In this while, Ishant crossed over Shukla and was past the crease at the striker’s end. Soon, Dhoni signalled his teammates to get the bails off at the bowler’s end. Parthiv Patel stepped in and forced Joginder to break down the stumps which brought an end to Laxmi Shukla’s 33-ball 42. Ishant, who was the striker for the last ball, collected a couple as KKR finished with 147/9 in the 20 overs. Super Kings chased down the target by losing only one wicket and with three overs to spare.

<p>One of the major factors behind MS Dhoni’s success as captain at International cricket and also in the IPL has been his smart thinking. The keeper-batsman has control of the things that happen around in a given match. He tries to take a gamble with the situation and most of them go his way.</p>
<p>Dhoni’s presence of mind with respect to bowling changes did help India clinch 2007 WT20 and 2013 Champions Trophy. There are quite a lot of examples from Dhoni’s career where he turned the matches with his smartness.</p>
<h3>Here we look at a few occasions where Dhoni’s sharp thinking benefited his team on the field:</h3>
<h3>5. Chennai Super Kings vs Mumbai Indians in Mumbai, 2010</h3>
<figure id="attachment_412786" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-412786" class="wp-caption aligncenter" style="max-width: 100%; margin: 0;"><amp-img class="size-full wp-image-412786" src="https://crictracker-admin-panel-08032022.s3.ap-south-1.amazonaws.com/media/attachments/MS-Dhoni-3-1.jpg" alt="MS Dhoni" width="640" height="400" layout="responsive" style="max-width: 100%; margin: 0;"></amp-img><figcaption id="caption-attachment-412786" class="wp-caption-text">MS Dhoni. (Photo Source: SESHADRI SUKUMAR/AFP/GettyImages)</figcaption></figure>
<p>Mumbai Indians and Chennai Super Kings faced off at the Mumbai’s DY Patil Stadium in the 2010 edition final. It was the first time both the captains of an IPL final were Indian players. CSK, who batted first, finished with 168/5 in their 20 overs thanks to an unbeaten 57 off 35 balls by <a href="https://www.crictracker.com/faf-du-plessis-picks-suresh-rainas-53-ball-ton-against-kings-xi-punjab-in-2013-as-his-favourite-ipl-memory/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"><strong>Suresh Raina</strong></a>. MI messed around their batting order and left a lot to chase towards the end.</p>
<p>Kieron Pollard walked in at No.8 when MI was needing 55 runs from only 18 deliveries. Pollard had the reputation of chasing impossible targets as well and showed a glimpse of that by smashing 22 runs in the 18th over bowled by Doug Bollinger. The West Indian all-rounder smashed a boundary past Albie Morkel in the 19th over which made MS Dhoni place Matthew Hayden just to the left of Morkel’s run-up.</p>
<p>Pollard ended up hitting the last ball of the penultimate over straight to the Dhoni’s made up fielding position. MI scored only three more runs and lost the match by 22 runs. A similar strategy worked against Pollard in the 2017 IPL final between Mumbai Indians and Rising Pune Supergiant. Pollard found straight long-off fielder in Adam Zampa’s bowling only a couple of balls after smashing a maximum. It is, however, unsure if it was Dhoni’s idea or skipper Smith’s plan.</p>
<p></p>
<h3>4. India vs Australia in Melbourne, 2014</h3>
<figure id="attachment_412783" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-412783" class="wp-caption aligncenter" style="max-width: 100%; margin: 0;"><amp-img class="size-full wp-image-412783" src="https://crictracker-admin-panel-08032022.s3.ap-south-1.amazonaws.com/media/attachments/MS-Dhoni-1.jpg" alt="MS Dhoni. (Photo by Scott Barbour/Getty Images)" width="640" height="400" layout="responsive" style="max-width: 100%; margin: 0;"></amp-img><figcaption id="caption-attachment-412783" class="wp-caption-text">MS Dhoni. (Photo by Scott Barbour/Getty Images). (Photo by Stu Forster/Getty Images)</figcaption></figure>
<p>The Border-Gavaskar Trophy in Australia during the 2014-15 season gave the first signs of how far Steve Smith could go in the list of Test greats. He recorded unbeaten knocks of 162 and 52 during a close win in Adelaide and followed it with a 133 in the Brisbane Test victory. In the 2nd innings of the game, he was run out for 28 runs when Australia was six runs away from a win. He bounced back with a 192-run knock in the Boxing Day Test; his 3rd ton of the series.</p>
<p>India minimized Australia’s first-innings lead to 65 runs but the home team’s openers scored fifties in the 2nd essay. India needed to take wickets for having a chance of winning the game. Captain MS Dhoni put Ajinkya Rahane at leg slip position a ball before drinks break in the post-lunch session on day 4. <a href="https://www.crictracker.com/thoda-bura-to-lagta-hai-umesh-yadav-opens-up-about-not-getting-enough-chances-in-the-indian-team/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"><strong>Umesh Yadav</strong></a>, who has the habit of bowling way too many balls on the leg stump, seemed ideal to make Smith flick towards the leg side.</p>
<p>As Dhoni anticipated, he flicked one into the hands of Rahane and was dismissed for 14 runs. It was his lowest score in the 4-match Test series as he smashed 117 and 71 respectively in the last Test at the Sydney Cricket Ground. Dhoni always loved to set up a leg slip but it was quite common when the spinners were bowling but not much when the pacers were in action. Many teams have followed the leg slip tactic against Smith backed by aggressive bowling lines.</p>
<p></p>
<h3>3. Rising Pune Supergiant vs Mumbai Indians in Pune, 2017</h3>
<figure id="attachment_410559" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-410559" class="wp-caption aligncenter" style="max-width: 100%; margin: 0;"><amp-img class="size-full wp-image-410559" src="https://crictracker-admin-panel-08032022.s3.ap-south-1.amazonaws.com/media/attachments/MS-Dhoni-RPS.jpg" alt="MS Dhoni RPS" width="640" height="400" layout="responsive" style="max-width: 100%; margin: 0;"></amp-img><figcaption id="caption-attachment-410559" class="wp-caption-text">MS Dhoni RPS. (Photo Source: Twitter)</figcaption></figure>
<p>Rising Pune Supergiant began their campaign in IPL 2017 against Mumbai Indians in their home ground Pune. The franchise made a change of captaincy ahead of the season as Steve Smith took over from MS Dhoni. After electing to bowl first, the Pune team contained the Mumbai Indians during the middle-overs. But a 30-run final over with Hardik Pandya at the crease powered their total to 184/8. Pune got off to a quick start in the chase as Ajinkya Rahane scored an aggressive 60 from 34 deliveries.</p>
<p>The new skipper Smith anchored the chase while the required rate slowly crept to 10. Smith also completed his fifty by the time Dhoni arrived at the crease in the 16th over. Pune was 20 runs away from a win in the final two overs which were to be bowled by <a href="https://www.crictracker.com/yuvi-paa-what-a-hairstyle-jasprit-bumrah-hilariously-trolls-yuvraj-singh/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"><strong>Jasprit Bumrah</strong></a> and one among Kieron Pollard and Krunal Pandya. Bumrah gave away only two runs in the first four balls of the 19th over including consecutive dot balls to Dhoni. However, MSD found a boundary on the following delivery.</p>
<p>The equation came down to 14 from 7 balls when Dhoni skied the last ball of the penultimate over towards long-on. Dhoni, aware of the chance of getting out, stopped Smith from crossing over which could put a new batsman at the crease for the final over. But Tim Southee spilt an easy chance and Dhoni-Smith pair realized it and picked up a single. Pollard began the last over giving away only 3 runs in the first three balls but Smith smashed back to back sixes to finish off the chase.</p>
<p></p>
<h3>2. India vs Pakistan in 2007, Guwahati</h3>
<figure id="attachment_412782" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-412782" class="wp-caption aligncenter" style="max-width: 100%; margin: 0;"><amp-img class="size-full wp-image-412782" src="https://crictracker-admin-panel-08032022.s3.ap-south-1.amazonaws.com/media/attachments/MS-Dhoni.jpg" alt="MS Dhoni" width="640" height="400" layout="responsive" style="max-width: 100%; margin: 0;"></amp-img><figcaption id="caption-attachment-412782" class="wp-caption-text">MS Dhoni. (Photo by Scott Barbour/Getty Images)</figcaption></figure>
<p>MS Dhoni’s captaincy career got off to a great start as India won the inaugural edition of the T20 World Cup. However, his first ODI series turned out to be a tough one as India lost the 7-match series by 2-4 margin against the Aussies. In the following series, India took on Pakistan at home during a 5-match series. The first game was hosted by Guwahati where Pakistan struggled to get going after electing to bat first. They scored only 105 runs for the loss of three wickets by the end of the 30th over.</p>
<p>Shahid Afridi was sent up at No.5 to improve the scoring rate as he added 42 runs in 6 overs with Mohammad Yousuf. Dhoni handed the ball to Sachin Tendulkar and made him bowl leg-spin from round the wicket. Sachin gave away only two runs in his first over but Afridi showed signs of coming down the track. In his next over, Sachin kept the ball on leg-stump to Afridi who came down the track to score 7 runs in the first three balls including a four. Afridi was back on strike for the 5th ball of the over.</p>
<p>Skipper Dhoni insisted Sachin to bowl near to the wide line while he was in his delivery stride. Sachin executed it to the perfection and left Afridi beaten a couple of meters down the crease. Dhoni quickly removed the bails to send back the dangerous batsman for a 32-ball 31. Mohammad Yousuf’s unbeaten 82 off 88 balls pushed Pakistan’s total to 239/7 which India chased down with three overs and five wickets in hand. India could have been chasing around 260 on a tricky pitch if not for a well-planned dismissal of Afridi.</p>
<p></p>
<h3>1. Chennai Super Kings vs Kolkata Knight Riders in Chennai, 2008</h3>
<figure id="attachment_412784" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-412784" class="wp-caption aligncenter" style="max-width: 100%; margin: 0;"><amp-img class="size-full wp-image-412784" src="https://crictracker-admin-panel-08032022.s3.ap-south-1.amazonaws.com/media/attachments/MS-Dhoni-2-1.jpg" alt="MS Dhoni" width="640" height="400" layout="responsive" style="max-width: 100%; margin: 0;"></amp-img><figcaption id="caption-attachment-412784" class="wp-caption-text">MS Dhoni. (Photo Source: Manjunath Kiran/AFP/GettyImages)</figcaption></figure>
<p>Chennai Super Kings began the inaugural season with back to back wins and so did the Kolkata Knight Riders. The two sides faced off at the Chepauk stadium in the 11th match of the league phase. <a href="https://www.crictracker.com/brendon-mccullum-responds-after-fan-impersonates-his-batting-technique-in-a-video/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"><strong>Brendon McCullum</strong></a> struck 2 fours and 2 sixes during his 12-ball 24 while Wriddhiman Saha made 27 off 16 balls after KKR elected to bat first. The Knight Riders were going close to 11 runs an over in the powerplay.</p>
<p>But the CSK bowlers pulled back the things to reduce the visitors to 98/6 by 15th over. Laxmi Ratan Shukla began to take control with a couple of boundaries towards the end. He struck back to back boundaries on first two balls of the 20th over as KKR inched closer to 150. Joginder Sharma nailed a yorker on the penultimate ball of the KKR innings which Shukla failed to connect.</p>
<p>The Bengal player didn’t move out of his crease but the non-striker Ishant Sharma went down to the other end in hope of finding a bye. The CSK skipper MS Dhoni threw the ball to Joginder but insisted not to take the bails off. Dhoni found Shukla moving out of the crease and found a chance of running out the all-rounder instead of Ishant. Shukla patted the back of the pacer for sacrificing his wicket for the team cause.</p>
<p>In this while, Ishant crossed over Shukla and was past the crease at the striker’s end. Soon, Dhoni signalled his teammates to get the bails off at the bowler’s end. Parthiv Patel stepped in and forced Joginder to break down the stumps which brought an end to Laxmi Shukla’s 33-ball 42. Ishant, who was the striker for the last ball, collected a couple as KKR finished with 147/9 in the 20 overs. Super Kings chased down the target by losing only one wicket and with three overs to spare.</p>

<p>One of the major factors behind MS Dhoni’s success as captain at International cricket and also in the IPL has been his smart thinking. The keeper-batsman has control of the things that happen around in a given match. He tries to take a gamble with the situation and most of them go his way.</p>
<p>Dhoni’s presence of mind with respect to bowling changes did help India clinch 2007 WT20 and 2013 Champions Trophy. There are quite a lot of examples from Dhoni’s career where he turned the matches with his smartness.</p>
<h3>Here we look at a few occasions where Dhoni’s sharp thinking benefited his team on the field:</h3>
<h3>5. Chennai Super Kings vs Mumbai Indians in Mumbai, 2010</h3>
<figure id="attachment_412786" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-412786" style="width: 640px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" class="size-full wp-image-412786" src="https://crictracker-admin-panel-08032022.s3.ap-south-1.amazonaws.com/media/attachments/MS-Dhoni-3-1.jpg" alt="MS Dhoni" width="640" height="400" sizes="(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px"><figcaption id="caption-attachment-412786" class="wp-caption-text">MS Dhoni. (Photo Source: SESHADRI SUKUMAR/AFP/GettyImages)</figcaption></figure>
<p>Mumbai Indians and Chennai Super Kings faced off at the Mumbai’s DY Patil Stadium in the 2010 edition final. It was the first time both the captains of an IPL final were Indian players. CSK, who batted first, finished with 168/5 in their 20 overs thanks to an unbeaten 57 off 35 balls by <a href="https://www.crictracker.com/faf-du-plessis-picks-suresh-rainas-53-ball-ton-against-kings-xi-punjab-in-2013-as-his-favourite-ipl-memory/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"><strong>Suresh Raina</strong></a>. MI messed around their batting order and left a lot to chase towards the end.</p>
<p>Kieron Pollard walked in at No.8 when MI was needing 55 runs from only 18 deliveries. Pollard had the reputation of chasing impossible targets as well and showed a glimpse of that by smashing 22 runs in the 18th over bowled by Doug Bollinger. The West Indian all-rounder smashed a boundary past Albie Morkel in the 19th over which made MS Dhoni place Matthew Hayden just to the left of Morkel’s run-up.</p>
<p>Pollard ended up hitting the last ball of the penultimate over straight to the Dhoni’s made up fielding position. MI scored only three more runs and lost the match by 22 runs. A similar strategy worked against Pollard in the 2017 IPL final between Mumbai Indians and Rising Pune Supergiant. Pollard found straight long-off fielder in Adam Zampa’s bowling only a couple of balls after smashing a maximum. It is, however, unsure if it was Dhoni’s idea or skipper Smith’s plan.</p>
<p></p>
<h3>4. India vs Australia in Melbourne, 2014</h3>
<figure id="attachment_412783" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-412783" style="width: 640px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" class="size-full wp-image-412783" src="https://crictracker-admin-panel-08032022.s3.ap-south-1.amazonaws.com/media/attachments/MS-Dhoni-1.jpg" alt="MS Dhoni. (Photo by Scott Barbour/Getty Images)" width="640" height="400" sizes="(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px"><figcaption id="caption-attachment-412783" class="wp-caption-text">MS Dhoni. (Photo by Scott Barbour/Getty Images). (Photo by Stu Forster/Getty Images)</figcaption></figure>
<p>The Border-Gavaskar Trophy in Australia during the 2014-15 season gave the first signs of how far Steve Smith could go in the list of Test greats. He recorded unbeaten knocks of 162 and 52 during a close win in Adelaide and followed it with a 133 in the Brisbane Test victory. In the 2nd innings of the game, he was run out for 28 runs when Australia was six runs away from a win. He bounced back with a 192-run knock in the Boxing Day Test; his 3rd ton of the series.</p>
<p>India minimized Australia’s first-innings lead to 65 runs but the home team’s openers scored fifties in the 2nd essay. India needed to take wickets for having a chance of winning the game. Captain MS Dhoni put Ajinkya Rahane at leg slip position a ball before drinks break in the post-lunch session on day 4. <a href="https://www.crictracker.com/thoda-bura-to-lagta-hai-umesh-yadav-opens-up-about-not-getting-enough-chances-in-the-indian-team/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"><strong>Umesh Yadav</strong></a>, who has the habit of bowling way too many balls on the leg stump, seemed ideal to make Smith flick towards the leg side.</p>
<p>As Dhoni anticipated, he flicked one into the hands of Rahane and was dismissed for 14 runs. It was his lowest score in the 4-match Test series as he smashed 117 and 71 respectively in the last Test at the Sydney Cricket Ground. Dhoni always loved to set up a leg slip but it was quite common when the spinners were bowling but not much when the pacers were in action. Many teams have followed the leg slip tactic against Smith backed by aggressive bowling lines.</p>
<p></p>
<h3>3. Rising Pune Supergiant vs Mumbai Indians in Pune, 2017</h3>
<figure id="attachment_410559" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-410559" style="width: 640px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" class="size-full wp-image-410559" src="https://crictracker-admin-panel-08032022.s3.ap-south-1.amazonaws.com/media/attachments/MS-Dhoni-RPS.jpg" alt="MS Dhoni RPS" width="640" height="400" sizes="(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px"><figcaption id="caption-attachment-410559" class="wp-caption-text">MS Dhoni RPS. (Photo Source: Twitter)</figcaption></figure>
<p>Rising Pune Supergiant began their campaign in IPL 2017 against Mumbai Indians in their home ground Pune. The franchise made a change of captaincy ahead of the season as Steve Smith took over from MS Dhoni. After electing to bowl first, the Pune team contained the Mumbai Indians during the middle-overs. But a 30-run final over with Hardik Pandya at the crease powered their total to 184/8. Pune got off to a quick start in the chase as Ajinkya Rahane scored an aggressive 60 from 34 deliveries.</p>
<p>The new skipper Smith anchored the chase while the required rate slowly crept to 10. Smith also completed his fifty by the time Dhoni arrived at the crease in the 16th over. Pune was 20 runs away from a win in the final two overs which were to be bowled by <a href="https://www.crictracker.com/yuvi-paa-what-a-hairstyle-jasprit-bumrah-hilariously-trolls-yuvraj-singh/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"><strong>Jasprit Bumrah</strong></a> and one among Kieron Pollard and Krunal Pandya. Bumrah gave away only two runs in the first four balls of the 19th over including consecutive dot balls to Dhoni. However, MSD found a boundary on the following delivery.</p>
<p>The equation came down to 14 from 7 balls when Dhoni skied the last ball of the penultimate over towards long-on. Dhoni, aware of the chance of getting out, stopped Smith from crossing over which could put a new batsman at the crease for the final over. But Tim Southee spilt an easy chance and Dhoni-Smith pair realized it and picked up a single. Pollard began the last over giving away only 3 runs in the first three balls but Smith smashed back to back sixes to finish off the chase.</p>
<p></p>
<h3>2. India vs Pakistan in 2007, Guwahati</h3>
<figure id="attachment_412782" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-412782" style="width: 640px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" class="size-full wp-image-412782" src="https://crictracker-admin-panel-08032022.s3.ap-south-1.amazonaws.com/media/attachments/MS-Dhoni.jpg" alt="MS Dhoni" width="640" height="400" sizes="(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px"><figcaption id="caption-attachment-412782" class="wp-caption-text">MS Dhoni. (Photo by Scott Barbour/Getty Images)</figcaption></figure>
<p>MS Dhoni’s captaincy career got off to a great start as India won the inaugural edition of the T20 World Cup. However, his first ODI series turned out to be a tough one as India lost the 7-match series by 2-4 margin against the Aussies. In the following series, India took on Pakistan at home during a 5-match series. The first game was hosted by Guwahati where Pakistan struggled to get going after electing to bat first. They scored only 105 runs for the loss of three wickets by the end of the 30th over.</p>
<p>Shahid Afridi was sent up at No.5 to improve the scoring rate as he added 42 runs in 6 overs with Mohammad Yousuf. Dhoni handed the ball to Sachin Tendulkar and made him bowl leg-spin from round the wicket. Sachin gave away only two runs in his first over but Afridi showed signs of coming down the track. In his next over, Sachin kept the ball on leg-stump to Afridi who came down the track to score 7 runs in the first three balls including a four. Afridi was back on strike for the 5th ball of the over.</p>
<p>Skipper Dhoni insisted Sachin to bowl near to the wide line while he was in his delivery stride. Sachin executed it to the perfection and left Afridi beaten a couple of meters down the crease. Dhoni quickly removed the bails to send back the dangerous batsman for a 32-ball 31. Mohammad Yousuf’s unbeaten 82 off 88 balls pushed Pakistan&#8217;s total to 239/7 which India chased down with three overs and five wickets in hand. India could have been chasing around 260 on a tricky pitch if not for a well-planned dismissal of Afridi.</p>
<p></p>
<h3>1. Chennai Super Kings vs Kolkata Knight Riders in Chennai, 2008</h3>
<figure id="attachment_412784" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-412784" style="width: 640px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" class="size-full wp-image-412784" src="https://crictracker-admin-panel-08032022.s3.ap-south-1.amazonaws.com/media/attachments/MS-Dhoni-2-1.jpg" alt="MS Dhoni" width="640" height="400" sizes="(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px"><figcaption id="caption-attachment-412784" class="wp-caption-text">MS Dhoni. (Photo Source: Manjunath Kiran/AFP/GettyImages)</figcaption></figure>
<p>Chennai Super Kings began the inaugural season with back to back wins and so did the Kolkata Knight Riders. The two sides faced off at the Chepauk stadium in the 11th match of the league phase. <a href="https://www.crictracker.com/brendon-mccullum-responds-after-fan-impersonates-his-batting-technique-in-a-video/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"><strong>Brendon McCullum</strong></a> struck 2 fours and 2 sixes during his 12-ball 24 while Wriddhiman Saha made 27 off 16 balls after KKR elected to bat first. The Knight Riders were going close to 11 runs an over in the powerplay.</p>
<p>But the CSK bowlers pulled back the things to reduce the visitors to 98/6 by 15th over. Laxmi Ratan Shukla began to take control with a couple of boundaries towards the end. He struck back to back boundaries on first two balls of the 20th over as KKR inched closer to 150. Joginder Sharma nailed a yorker on the penultimate ball of the KKR innings which Shukla failed to connect.</p>
<p>The Bengal player didn’t move out of his crease but the non-striker Ishant Sharma went down to the other end in hope of finding a bye. The CSK skipper MS Dhoni threw the ball to Joginder but insisted not to take the bails off. Dhoni found Shukla moving out of the crease and found a chance of running out the all-rounder instead of Ishant. Shukla patted the back of the pacer for sacrificing his wicket for the team cause.</p>
<p>In this while, Ishant crossed over Shukla and was past the crease at the striker’s end. Soon, Dhoni signalled his teammates to get the bails off at the bowler’s end. Parthiv Patel stepped in and forced Joginder to break down the stumps which brought an end to Laxmi Shukla’s 33-ball 42. Ishant, who was the striker for the last ball, collected a couple as KKR finished with 147/9 in the 20 overs. Super Kings chased down the target by losing only one wicket and with three overs to spare.</p>

Here we look at a few occasions where Dhoni’s sharp thinking benefited his team on the field.

5 Instances where MS Dhoni showed his smartness on the field

One of the major factors behind MS Dhoni’s success as captain at International cricket and also in the IPL has been his smart thinking.