The rise of Dhoni's young brigade
Madhu Jawali, Bengaluru: Mar 04, 2016, DHNS:
The MS Dhoni phenomenon began when the man from Jharkhand, thrust into captaincy in the absence of senior players, led the young Indian team to title triumph in the inaugural World T20 in South Africa.
The then Indian captain Rahul Dravid, who resigned soon after the tour of England the same year, Sourav Ganguly and Sachin Tendulkar opted out of the shortest format which had little backing of the Board of Control for Cricket in India.
The selectors handed over the mantle of the team to Dhoni who galvanised a largely inexperienced bunch a famous win, much against the expectations of many. The victory was the defining moment of Dhoni’s bustling career and India’s success at the event forced the BCCI to revisit their view on T20 matches. The cricket world has never been the same again.
The novelty factor of the tournament, the duration of matches and the quality of cricket obviously attracted large crowds to venues, making the event an unqualified success and that India and Pakistan clashed in the final was the perfect icing on the cake.
With not too many expectations on them, the Indians played a fearless brand of cricket that made them the toast of the tournament.
If their win via bowl-out, which since then has been replaced by super over to decide the winner in the event of a tie, against Pakistan was exciting, Yuvraj Singh’s six sixes off a Stuart Broad’s over left everyone awestruck. It was in the same match that the southpaw hammered a 12-ball 50, the fastest in a T20 International till date.
The win over the mighty Australians in the semifinal was a great morale booster for the team ahead of the final against arch-rivals Pakistan. And the summit clash between the sub-continental foes lived up to the hype.
India had escaped by the skin of their teeth in the group stage against Pakistan and in the final too they appeared to be heading towards a heart-breaking defeat in a topsy-turvy final when Misbah-ul-Haq had a brain-freeze moment. His attempted scoop off Joginder Sharma ended in the hands of S Sreesanth at short fine-leg. Pakistan needed just six off four balls before Misbah’s ill-advised shot but that’s the way the cookie crumbles!
The then Indian captain Rahul Dravid, who resigned soon after the tour of England the same year, Sourav Ganguly and Sachin Tendulkar opted out of the shortest format which had little backing of the Board of Control for Cricket in India.
The selectors handed over the mantle of the team to Dhoni who galvanised a largely inexperienced bunch a famous win, much against the expectations of many. The victory was the defining moment of Dhoni’s bustling career and India’s success at the event forced the BCCI to revisit their view on T20 matches. The cricket world has never been the same again.
The novelty factor of the tournament, the duration of matches and the quality of cricket obviously attracted large crowds to venues, making the event an unqualified success and that India and Pakistan clashed in the final was the perfect icing on the cake.
With not too many expectations on them, the Indians played a fearless brand of cricket that made them the toast of the tournament.
If their win via bowl-out, which since then has been replaced by super over to decide the winner in the event of a tie, against Pakistan was exciting, Yuvraj Singh’s six sixes off a Stuart Broad’s over left everyone awestruck. It was in the same match that the southpaw hammered a 12-ball 50, the fastest in a T20 International till date.
The win over the mighty Australians in the semifinal was a great morale booster for the team ahead of the final against arch-rivals Pakistan. And the summit clash between the sub-continental foes lived up to the hype.
India had escaped by the skin of their teeth in the group stage against Pakistan and in the final too they appeared to be heading towards a heart-breaking defeat in a topsy-turvy final when Misbah-ul-Haq had a brain-freeze moment. His attempted scoop off Joginder Sharma ended in the hands of S Sreesanth at short fine-leg. Pakistan needed just six off four balls before Misbah’s ill-advised shot but that’s the way the cookie crumbles!
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