8 Decisions by Sourav Ganguly and MS Dhoni that changed Indian cricket

8. Dhoni- Promoting himself to No.5 in 2011 WC Final

There have been a lot of stories regarding this as to who came up with the idea of promoting Dhoni ahead of Yuvraj in the 2011 World Cup final. While it is obvious that senior players like Sachin and coach Gary Kirsten would have played a huge part in the decision making, at the end of the day, if Dhoni wasn’t willing to take the mantle upon himself and spearhead his team to victory, don’t think that it would have materialized.

Dhoni wasn’t in the best of form throughout that World Cup but one thing was always at the back of his mind- the experience of playing alongside Muttiah Muralitharan in the IPL.

With that in mind, the Indian captain promoted himself up the order and along with Gautam Gambhir [97] and Yuvraj Singh steered India towards World Cup glory. Come to think of it, what would have happened that that punt went in vain?

The swords of criticism would have been out because remember, he had promoted himself ahead of the in-form Yuvraj Singh? It was an incredible risk. But then, as they say, the hallmark of a great leader is that he is willing to take calculated risks for his team. And, Dhoni did that just that on the night of the final in 2011.