Hits and Misses of MS Dhoni: The Untold Story

5. If you have a wider perception criticism won’t deter you:

He was appointed the captain for the first time for the T20 World Cup in 2007. He played with a young team, most of the boys weren’t really the biggest names in Indian cricket and the format was new on its own, still they managed to script history. Dhoni probably learned and realized a few things in his brief captaincy career and aimed to implement long-term plans for the team.

Ahead of the CB Series in Australia, 2008 he was asked for his opinion about the type of team he wants to play with and he said there are three players who are slow fielders and they would pull the team back. All three of them were established names and even the selectors were reluctant to make that big a chance which as per them would have huge implications. Dhoni was firm that if they wanted to target the 50-overs World Cup in 2011 they had to start building the team from that very moment.

He was given a comparatively younger team that was agile on the field and they did not just win the CB Series but also the World Cup 2011. Dhoni was criticized for dropping the senior players and not showing respect but since the only thing on his mind was to develop a team that can win the biggest glory for the country he didn’t care about immediate criticism and went ahead with the bold decision.