There is a reason why MS Dhoni is always referred to as our “captain cool”. His calm composure on and off the field made him best suited for the tag. Dhoni taught the world that there is a lot more to a sport than just skills. He never failed to instill the knowledge of peace as well as tranquility among his teammates.
And this we can say with certainty considering the action that he took in 2008 when India was playing Australia in the final of the Commonwealth Bank Series. India was on the verge of winning however, Dhoni called for gloves. Why did he do so? Read on to know the full story.
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This is the reason MS Dhoni called for gloves in the 2008 winning match against Australia
Back in 2008, India was chasing down a total of 160 runs against Australia at the Melbourn cricket ground. On the crease was a young Rohit Sharma and our captain cool. However, with just 10 runs to win MS Dhoni calls for gloves. This was a very new thing to witness. Usually, what happens is that a call for gloves is always a message from the pavilion to the batsmen on the crease. However, MS Dhoni being his unique self did the opposite. Why? Because he wanted to send a poignant message back to the pavilion.
The message that Mahi wanted to spread to his teammates is not to scream and shout to celebrate their win on the balcony. He wanted to stay calm and shake hands with his opposition firmly and did not intend to show over excitement.
Dhoni did not want Australia to think that India considered them to be an undefeatable side. He needed it to look like India was naturally happy with the win. He did not want to make it look evident that beating the Australians in their own backyard was a big deal.
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Dhoni must have prepared this move all along.
Lots of stories related to Dhoni, literally a World Cup winning captain, but this one is my favorite story. pic.twitter.com/Aj1Xc2yjrB
— IPL 2022 (@iplthebest) July 6, 2022
His point of view on this was that he wanted to send a message to Ponting’s Australia that beating them was not a big deal. India can beat them again and again.
What followed after that – CB series, 2008 BGT, 2010 BGT, World Cup quarter final.
— IPL 2022 (@iplthebest) July 6, 2022
India showed an impeccable performance in the match
It was Dhoni’s 15th ODI as a captain and he was leading a team against the world champions. Nonetheless, the performance his pack showed was beyond praiseworthy. Indian pacers bowled out the Aussies for a total of 159 from 43.1 overs in the 4th match Commonwealth Bank Series. Ishant Sharma did an impeccable job as he bagged 4 wickets. Meanwhile, Sreesanth and Irfan Pathan took 3 and 2 wickets, respectively.
Coming into India’s batting, India lost Virender Sehwag quite early than anybody anticipated. Later on Sachin Tendulkar, Irfan Pathan, and Gautam Gambhir managed to gather runs. India was 102/5 from 28.3 overs when young Rohit Sharma and captain cool were on the crease.
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What looked like a tough and possibly impossible fight was made possible with a sure-shot win. India won by 5 wickets while 25 balls were still remaining. It was the first win for India at the Melbourn Cricket Ground (MGC) in 22 years of ODI against the Australians.
Twitter was flooded with respect toward the winning captain
This was rise of MAHI as a leader https://t.co/7CbBQ9ikel
— Indian Bloke (@AndhbhaktIND) July 7, 2022
Respect. https://t.co/JFIsedvoyz
— animesh bajpai (@anim2407) July 7, 2022
In short treat them as any other team rather than falling for their might ..wow! https://t.co/R5TaDRZG4K
— Harsh Raikar (@bitter_parker_) July 7, 2022
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Breaking them mentally https://t.co/A1Yi7PvbFO
— ‘ (@madredssfc) July 7, 2022
And this actually was more celebratory than doing physical celebrations, showing winning against australia isn’t a big deal, they are just another team https://t.co/g39YcTCVGc
— Ashutosh😼 (@IAshutoshMittal) July 7, 2022
Goosebumps just by reading it😯…and the confidence of winning it was something different https://t.co/h1iPnnBSNw
— ashu (@im7_ashu) July 7, 2022
The win was indeed a huge one. But our ”captain cool” with his squad maintained their composure throughout. What are your thoughts about this match? Do tell us via the comments below.
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