5 Times MS Dhoni defied logic as captain in IPL

Cricket, on certain occasions, has a lot more to deal with mind games and strategy than on-field action. And when it comes to vital mental aspects like those, there’s no player better than MS Dhoni. The two-time World Cup-winning ex-India captain has a knack of retaining his calm and composure in even the most tense situations.

This virtue of level-headedness, subsequently, allows Dhoni to make some of the most bizarre and unconventional captaincy decisions out there. Pundits and experts have often been quick to call out Dhoni on his seemingly ‘unjustified’ choices and selections. But more often than not- it’s Dhoni, who gets his gambles spot-on and has the last laugh.

That said, it is only human for someone with a reputation as proud to err occasionally. For as great the legacy of our Captain Cool is, there have times when his punts have backfired.

Here’s a comprehensive look through five such instances, where MS Dhoni’s decisions cost his teams: –

1) Pushing himself lower down the batting order

Dhoni, and his stellar performances at the late stages of games, have rightfully earned him the reputation as one of the best finishers of the game. His pyrotechnics at the death have won countless games from ‘unwinnable’ positions, and are central to his teams’ success. With a strike-rate close to 200 during that period, it’s not surprising why pundits often opine that no game is over until Dhoni departs.

Dhoni’s performance over the last couple of IPL seasons has given no indication that his finishing skills are on the wane. What has changed, however, is the situation when he comes on to bat. Earlier the CSK captain changed his role in the batting-order and tended to walk in to bat at the two or three-down positions. The promotion gave him some added warm-up time to form a game plan and target the right bowlers at the final overs.

However, this season, Dhoni seems to be going for a more unpredictable approach in trying to give the youngsters opportunities. In CSK’s first two matches, Dhoni came into bat at number 7. Meanwhile, the likes of Sam Curran, Kedar Jadhav, Ruturaj Gaekwad, and Ravindra Jadeja have all been given some extra responsibility with batting promotions. The gamble of using Sam Curran as a floater did work in the first match against the Mumbai Indians, where they needed 38 off 21 balls.

But it didn’t quite yield the same results against the Rajasthan Royals. Curran, Jadhav, and Gaekwad, all walked in to bat ahead of Dhoni, but couldn’t make much impact in the run-chase. Ultimately, when Dhoni did arrive at number 7, CSK were left chasing 103 runs off the last 6 overs. To their credit, Faf du Plessis and MSD did take the game deep, scoring 87 of those runs. But the power-hitting arrived a bit too late, and CSK fans were left their heads scratching at their captain’s gamble.

2) Choosing more aged fast bowlers ahead of youngsters at Rising Pune Supergiant

Dhoni’s captaincy record in the IPL is simply unrivaled; out of the 11 previous seasons he assumed captaincy in, his team(s) reached the playoffs/semis in 10 of those and finished as champions thrice. Of course, the single blemish to this sensational run dates back to the 2016 season, where he captained the Rising Pune Supergiant(s).

To be fair, RPS had a bunch of unwelcome off-field issues to deal with in their maiden season; they lost their home stadium, most of their first-choice players picked up injuries and couldn’t play the full season. But even after discounting those out-of-control factors, Dhoni fans had to admit that Captain Cool looked rusty with his leadership.

Possibly the most glaring point of criticism revolved around how he managed his fast-bowling resources that season. The RPS lineup had several experienced seam-bowling names in their lineup; the likes of Irfan Pathan, Rajat Bhatia, RP Singh, Ashok Dinda, and Ishant Sharma were some of most consistent performers in the IPL. However, when the tournament rolled in, none of them could hit their straps and were constantly shuffled in-and-out of the team.

Nonetheless, RPS kept persisting with this fixed pool of bowlers to unsuccessful results. It wasn’t until the 49th match when they finally decided to give Deepak Chahar a go-ahead, but it was much too late by then. Meanwhile, Ishwar Pandey and Jaskaran Singh, who had done well in the previous domestic season, didn’t play a single game.

3) The ‘Mohit Sharma-Ishwar Pandey’ confusion

Dhoni, the captain, has often been regarded for his match-awareness and undeterred focus on the game at all situations. But in CSK’s 2014 group stage match against the Kolkata Knight Riders in the Champions League T20; fans got to witness a rare moment of lapse from the celebrated skipper. Current Delhi Capitals and ex-Chennai fast-bowler Mohit Sharma recently offered a throwback to the incident. CSK were defending a 157-run total and had already sent the KKR openers back in the hut.

In the third-over, Ashish Nehra further dented the Knights’ chase and claimed Manish Pandey’s wicket. Over the wicket celebrations that followed, Dhoni had apparently asked Ishwar Pandey to bowl the following over. Mohit, however, did not know about this last-moment change and asked Ishwar to hand him the ball instead. What followed next was a moment of sheer confusion in the CSK camp, as Dhoni gestured Mohit midway between his run-up to stop bowling.

The umpires had to intervene, and ruled that since Mohit had already started his runup, he had to complete the over. The decision clearly upset Dhoni, who went ahead and gave Ishwar and Mohit a piece of his mind for their carelessness; even after Mohit had claimed a wicket in the over he wasn’t meant to bowl! But even putting the anger aside, the move affected Mahi’s overall plan of managing his overs from his bowlers; which, ultimately, cost them the match by 3 wickets.

4) Playing Jacob Oram and Andrew Flintoff ahead of Albie Morkel in South Africa

Albie Morkel, the hard-hitting South African all-rounder, was a crucial part of CSK’s title wins back in the 2010 and 2011 seasons. His mercurial lower-order batting and useful ability to bowl filler overs of pace came in clutch in some of Chennai’s all-time greatest victories. None more iconic, probably, than his 28-run over off Virat Kohli in the 2012-season- a decision Morkel still doesn’t understand.

But it took the elder Morkel brother some time to make his presence felt in a power-packed Chennai side. Specifically, it was from the 2010 season when Dhoni really started to get the most mileage out of him. Which, in retrospect, appears to be a surprising decision, since Morkel had been with CSK from the first season itself.

The 2009 season in South Africa seemed tailor-made for Morkel- a proven customer to those conditions- to set the stage ablaze. But that did not happen, as CSK decided to play Jacob Oram and Andrew Flintoff over him. Across 14 matches, the duo collectively managed to score 150 runs and pick 8 wickets between them. Clearly, not too impressive stats- especially for Flintoff, who, at the time, had bagged a record INR 7.55 crore deal from the franchise.

Their indifferent form and injuries ultimately led to their axing and, subsequently, Morkel’s reinstation to the side. But it’s not too farfetched to think that had Dhoni and CSK backed Morkel earlier, they could have had a possible, fourth trophy in their cabinet. 

5) Reluctance to pick a sixth bowling option

Even before the 2020 season started, CSK had a big void to fill in terms of finding replacements for Suresh Raina and Harbhajan Singh. Surprisingly, they haven’t picked any replacements yet, and don’t appear to be doing so anytime soon. 

But their absence from the side has exposed a brand-new problem in the Chennai line-up. Dhoni no longer has the luxury of accommodating a sixth, India all-rounder option in the side. Over the last seasons, CSK have been a team heavily reliant on their spinners’ success. The conditions at the UAE, too seem conducive for the slow bowlers to spin their magic. 

Interestingly, CSK does have the option of getting some overs off Kedar Jadhav’s off-breaks. But they haven’t done so- not just in this season- Jadhav is yet to bowl his first delivery in the IPL.

Yet, despite both Piyush Chawla and Ravindra Jadeja going over 10 runs per over in the last match, Dhoni decided against using him. As is a constant with MSD, his unpredictability pretty much throws every speculation out of the window.

~Soham Bhowal