5 Times MS Dhoni rescued India from a precarious situation
Dhoni's swagger, his smile, his cool and calm demeanour. There was nobody like him. His belief in a young team in 2007 gave the game the IPL.
1. 45* of 52 balls vs Sri Lanka, 2009
Sri Lanka was perhaps Dhoni’s favourite team to face in ODIs. He averages 64.4 against them in 67 games having scored 2383 runs. His highest score of 183* as well as the World Cup-winning knock 91*, both were against them. But one of the lesser talked about Dhoni innings against Sri Lanka is the one he scored against them in the Celkon Cup final in 2013.
Having just lifted the Champions Trophy against all odds with a very young team in England, Dhoni and co arrived in the Caribbean Islands to play West Indies and Sri Lanka in a tri-series termed Celkon Cup. Unfortunately for India, Dhoni was injured after the very first match and looked unlikely for the rest of the tournament. However, Dhoni’s deputy at the time Virat Kohli assumed the mantle and led well to take India to the finals. Despite not being 100 per cent fit, Dhoni took part in the finals.
Batting first. Lanka scored an above par 201 on what was a very difficult wicket to bat on. Sri Lankan bowlers bowled very well and completely dried out the runs, and apart from Rohit Sharma who scored a well made 58, nobody could hang around for long. Dhoni came into bat with just 60 runs required in almost 18 overs. But just when India thought they would comfortably win the match, they lost 3 quick wickets found themselves precariously placed at 152-7. With Dhoni not at his best, it seemed like the match was getting out of their hands.
From requiring 27 of 7 overs, the situation came down to 15 runs off the last over with just one wicket remaining. It seemed as though Sri Lanka had managed to squeeze well enough and in a bid to farm strike, Dhoni had let too much to be left for the end.
Shaminda Eranaga bowling the last over, bowled a dot ball first up and with 15 needed off 5, the game was firmly in Sri Lanka’s hands. But it was Dhoni time. In a matter of minutes and just 3 balls, Dhoni smashed 6,4,6 and the game was over. Sri Lanka couldn’t fathom how things slipped away so quickly after having dominated almost the entire 2nd But that was Dhoni did all through his career.
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