M.S. Dhoni - A True Inspiration

In 2006, at Lahore Pakistan, the Indian team was chasing a target of 288 runs with 5 wickets gone, then arrived “The King” and scored a 72* in just 46 deliveries and made a 106 run partnership with Yuvraj Singh to guide India towards victory. Till now, I’ve not mentioned the name of that player. He is, none other than former Indian skipper and the fastest wicketkeeper till date, M.S Dhoni.

This name is famous among all Indians. People know him by various names like “maahi”, “thala (Big brother)”, “captain cool” etc. MS is famous for a number of things, apart from his batting, like:-

1. Calmness:

In a very crucial situation of the match, maximum players lose their cool and calmness in the heat of match but this is not with MS. In many pressure situations, we’ve not seen him being into pressure rather he stays calm and looks into the situation and then takes a decision.

2. Teamwork:

For this, I’ll give you an example:-
In 2007 T20 WC, during a match, Dinesh Karthik was also present in the team with MS as a WKB. Usually, this is not expected from any keeper to change his position with another player within the game without a reason like an injury etc., but MS did so. He changed his position with DK and started fielding and DK was keeping the wickets. He has done so in IPL also.

Another example is when MS changed his batting position to let youngsters play more openly and he took all pressure on himself. This depicts that he’s a master when it comes to team spirit or teamwork.

3. Supersonic Stumping and Runouts:

This is one more thing for which MS is famous, for his skills behind the wicket. For example Dhoni’s “magically stumping” Shabbir and a “5g run out” in 2016 T20 WC India vs Bangladesh match.

4. Wise decisions:

When it comes to decision making, then there is no competition for Dhoni as he’s the master in planning and he always has a backup plan ready with him during a match. Some examples of his decision making - To let Rohit open innings for India instead of his number 5 position. The result is in front of us.

5. Using resources properly:

Dhoni is best to use his limited and available resources in a good way to get his desired results like to use part-time bowlers like Suresh Raina or Kedar Jadhav. These were not all-rounder’s earlier but they became all-rounders after Dhoni used them during matches.

He’s one of the major reasons why Chennai made it to the finals of IPL 2018 and 2019 despite not having quality fast bowlers. All just because of the brainstorming of one person. The following are the things we can learn from him apart from his leadership skills:

• Age is just a number. It’s the spirit inside you that determines your potential.
• Sometimes you need to take tough calls and you must be ready for that.
• You must always have a backup plan.
• Become so much perfect in your major strengths that your minor weaknesses can be neglected.
• Teamwork can win any battle.
• Always be optimistic.