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Top 6 masterstrokes by Captain Cool MS Dhoni in IPL

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MS Dhoni has announced his retirement from international cricket and he will always be remembered as the first man in cricket history to win the ICC T20 World Cup, ICC World Cup, IPL, ICC Champions Trophy, and Champions League T20 as a captain. Dhoni’s unique thinking and out of the box approach helped him gain much success in all formats.

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IPL became his premier tournament as he helped Chennai Super Kings succeed in the competition. To date, CSK is the only team to have qualified in Top 4 of every season it has played. Over the years, Dhoni has played some masterstrokes as a captain and in this article, we present the top six captaincy tactics of Dhoni that helped his team succeed.

1.Using Shadab Jakati’s spin to dismiss Sachin Tendulkar

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IPL 2010 final was a match where we saw multiple masterstrokes from MS Dhoni. The first one was to dismiss Sachin Tendulkar, the best batsman of IPL that year.

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Tendulkar was batting magnificently as it seemed like he would win his first IPL trophy. However, Dhoni introduced Jakati into the bowling attack after saving his overs. Tendulkar could not tackle the left-arm spin under the pressure of required run rate and got out caught on 48.

2.Using Deepak Chahar in powerplay overs

Deepak Chahar played brilliantly for Chennai Super Kings in IPL 2018 and 2019. He has been their premier pace bowler and MS Dhoni deserves the credit for it.

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Chennai had the option of Mohit Sharma, Shardul Thakur, Mark Wood, and other fast bowlers in 2018, but Dhoni backed Chahar to bowl in the powerplay and he has been working like Bhuvneshwar Kumar used to do for the Indian team.

3.Suresh Raina dismisses left-handed Warner

Chennai Super Kings vs. Sunrisers Hyderabad has become one of the top rivalries in the IPL. The Orange Army has given Chennai a run for their money and in 2015, David Warner destroyed the CSK bowlers.

He was batting on 61 off 27 when the team’s total was 86/0 and it seemed like he would score a big hundred. However, Dhoni brought Raina in the bowling attack and dismissed Warner caught.

4.Straight fielder for Kieron Pollard

MS Dhoni was known for his out of the box thinking and another instance from the IPL 2010 final that features on this list is the dismissal of Kieron Pollard.

Although Mumbai did not have many wickets left, Pollard’s big shots gave MI fans a ray of hope. However, Dhoni got the better of him by placing Hayden at a straight mid-off position and Pollard hit the next ball straight to him.

5.Ravichandran Ashwin opens the bowling

MS Dhoni changed the perception of opening the bowling in T20 cricket. To counter the dominant Chris Gayle, Dhoni introduced Ashwin in the early overs.

The move worked magically as Gayle got out to Ashwin. Harbhajan Singh used the same tactic in the Champions League and sent the dangerman back to the pavilion.

6.Opening the batting with Ambati Rayudu in 2018

MS Dhoni raised many eyebrows by promoting Ambati Rayudu to the opener’s position in IPL 2018. Rayudu played magnificently and powered CSK to their third title.

Mumbai Indians had Rayudu for many years, but they never used him as an opener. Ultimately, Dhoni brought the best out of him in 2018.