The tales of former India captain MS Dhoni are always captivating and enriched in lessons for players and fans alike.
Hailed as the greatest Indian white-ball captain, and nicknamed ‘Captain Cool’, MS Dhoni is one of the few captains to have won an ODI series in Australia when in 2008 India won the Commonwealth Bank tri-series against Australia and Sri Lanka in Australia. And that was arguably the greatest Australian ODI team that had won the 2007 ODI World Cup under Ricky Ponting.
So a victory in the first final of the three finals of the CB series in Sydney was heavily celebrated by the Indian fans, but the Indian players on the order of MS Dhoni didn’t celebrate the win in public. Why so? This revelation has recently been made in journalist Bharat Sundaresan’s book The Dhoni Touch.
Rohit Sharma, a young batsman then, was on strike when India sealed the match via a wide from Symonds. As Rohit Sharma was about to celebrate in joy, MS Dhoni put his hand and gestured for him to stay calm.
Earlier, as India’s victory looked inevitable, MS Dhoni had also sent a message to the dressing room that no one will celebrate the win on the balcony.
The reason MS Dhoni asked his teammates to not celebrate India’s win over Australia was because he didn’t want Ricky Ponting’s team to think this was a fluke win by India or an upset; that India are a team more than just good enough to beat Australia in Australia.
MS Dhoni asked Rohit Sharma and Indian players to not celebrate the win on the balcony
This shows the mentality monster that is MS Dhoni; that he can so easily get into the opposition’s head; that he doesn’t want to give an inch to the opposition. India defeated Australia in the second final as well and sealed the tri-series trophy.
While not many knew about this anecdote in the past, it has now gone viral on social media in recent times.
Here is the excerpt from Bharat Sundaresan’s book The Dhoni Touch about this incident:
‘This was during the time when Australians were on top of their game and Dhoni was a young captain. Beating them in their own backyard was a big deal. Ricky Ponting and his men believed that every loss was an ‘UPSET’.
‘It was only the fifteenth ODI as captain for MS Dhoni, and he was at the crease with Rohit Sharma. With 10 runs to win, he called for a needless change of gloves. In cricket, it’s generally with a pair of gloves that you see information arriving from the dressing room.
‘Dhoni was doing the opposite though. He was sending a poignant message back to the pavilion. ‘Nobody will celebrate on the balcony once we win this match.’
‘Dhoni felt that if they will celebrate vociferously, Australians will feel that the Indian victory was a fluke. Dhoni’s point was loud and clear: “This will continue to happen and this is not an upset.”
‘This was Mahi’s way of saying it’s no big deal. My bowlers got them all out for 160 and we are chasing it down, usme kaunse badi baat hai (there’s no big deal in it).’
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