24th September 2007: The birth of MS Dhoni, the leader

24^th September 2007– India were taking on arch-rivals Pakistan in the finals of the 2007 T20 World Cup. Conventional wisdom would have told the skipper to go with the experienced off-spinner, but then he was a man who had defied convention nonchalantly throughout his career. So, we had the ‘rookie’ Joginder Sharma with the ball in hand. Pakistan were 13 runs away from victory with one over to go.

Misbah-ul-Haq was on strike, and an India-Pakistan final was once again living up to the hype. The first delivery from Joginder was a wide. That escalated the pressure, as well as the heartbeats of millions of Indians around the world. The next ball was a dot ball. That made it 12 from 5 balls.

But then, the third delivery (second legitimate one) was a juicy full toss, and Misbah dispatched the delivery over Long Off into the crowd. Was it a wise call to throw the ball to Joginder at a time when Harbhajan still had an over left?

Well, the next delivery provided the answer. Dhoni, in fact, ran up to the bowler and spoke to him. So, the equation was now reduced to 6 runs from 4 balls. Joginder ran in and delivered the ball outside the off stump. Misbah went for the ‘scoop’ shot.

The ball went in the air, and Sreesanth completed the catch. And with that, not only had Dhoni’s young brigade conquered the world, the Indian side had also unearthed a skipper who would go on to change the face of Indian cricket through the course of the next decade.

The ideal balm to the 2007 ODI World Cup debacle

Just a few months prior to the T20 triumph, the fortunes of the Indian side had plummeted to an all-time low. The Indian side, under Rahul Dravid, was ousted from the tournament in the group stage in the fifty over World Cup in the West Indies, and the future looked bleak.

The famous Indian batting line up, comprising of Virender Sehwag, Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly and Rahul Dravid had crumbled under pressure, and India’s elimination came as a massive shock to the fans.

And that is why the T20 triumph at Johannesburg, just a few months later, served as the ideal balm to the wounds that were caused due to the ouster of the side from the fifty over World Cup. It allowed the nation to forget the gloom of the past and enabled them to find solace in the historic triumph that India accomplished under Dhoni.

In fact, India sent a young side to the competition sans their illustrious ‘stars’, especially on the batting front. And, the mantle of leading the side fell on the shoulders of the then 26-year-old MS Dhoni.

Dhoni was an extremely ‘street smart’ skipper. And this was evident right on the day India played their league stage encounter against Pakistan. The match ended in a pulsating tie, and a bowl out was used to determine the winner.

For the bowl out, Pakistan designated their ‘key’ bowlers including Shahid Afridi, Umar Gul and Yasir Arafat. On the other hand, two out of the three bowlers designated by the Indian skipper– Robin Uthappa and Virender Sehwag, were specialist batsmen. While the Pakistani bowlers missed on every occasion, the designated Indian bowlers hit the stumps every single time and India triumphed. These were early signs that Dhoni was a man who had the ability to think on his feet.

Reflecting on that famous win, Uthappa has the following to say about Dhoni’s strategy– “One of the things that MS Dhoni did really well that night, and that he did different from what the Pakistan keeper did, was where he stood behind the stumps.

The Pakistan keeper(Kamran Akmal) was standing where a keeper usually stands. A few feet back and besides the stump- just alongside the stump. But MS was(sitting) right behind the stumps and that made it so much easier for us. We just had to bowl at MS and it gave us the best chance to hit the wickets. That’s all we did.”

MS Dhoni’s brigade created history

In fact, in the side that took the field on 24^th September 2007 for the T20 World Cup final, there was not a single member from the team who was above 30 years old at the time of taking the field. And, throughout the tournament, the players stepped up to the occasion. Virender Sehwag provided some blistering starts at the top of the order, and Gautam Gambhir was scintillating, especially in the final.

Yuvraj Singh was in the form of his life and carted Stuart Broad for six sixes in an over at Durban. The left-hander followed that up with a whirlwind 30 ball 70 against Australia in the semifinals that rattled the opposition. RP Singh was the joint second-highest wicket-taker of the tournament, and he was ably supported by Irfan Pathan, who picked up 10 wickets during the tournament at an economy rate of 6.77.

Robin Uthappa chipped in with a fifty against Pakistan, and Dhoni himself averaged 30.80 throughout the tournament. It was a collective effort, led by a man who dared to dream, and a man who backed himself and his players to the hilt and allowed India to conquer the world.

The seed that sprouted into a gigantic tree

That historic triumph on September 24, 2007, was the seed that sprouted into a gigantic tree under whose shade the Indian fans could comfortably rest under.

Dhoni led India to every accolade imaginable and brought laurels to the country over the course of his tenure as the skipper of the Indian side that lasted a decade. India attained the World No.1 Test rankings under him and won the coveted fifty over World Cup on April 2, 2011, after the debacle in the previous edition.

Dhoni also led India to a Champions Trophy triumph in 2013 and gave the Indian fans plenty of reasons to cheer. He is, by far the most successful limited-overs skipper that the nation has ever had, and has left behind a legacy that might never be matched. But then, the seed for all these gargantuan accomplishments was sown on 24^th September 2007. And the rest, as they say, is history.