5 Instances where MS Dhoni showed his smartness on the field

2. India vs Pakistan in 2007, Guwahati

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’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.