‘We all get frustrated when things are not going our way. But does frustration lead to anything that is good for the team? I only think what needs to be done. Mistakes can happen from anyone.’
New Delhi: In March 2016 at Chinnaswamy stadium, a tottering India scraped past Bangladesh by the narrowest of margins. A close analysis in the last moments of the match reveals the difference in attitude between India’s captain M.S. Dhoni and Bangladeshi players.
While the hyper-excited Bangladeshi players were already celebrating with an over to go, Dhoni kept his calm and eventually ran Mustafizur Rahman out on the last ball of the innings. India won the match by 1 run and kept their hopes alive in T-20 World Cup.
Unlike other players, Dhoni still did not celebrate as if it was just another day for him on the cricketing field. Instance like these has always left many wondering his unreal control over emotions and hailing him as ‘Captain Cool’.
So much so that team India former mental conditioning coach Paddy Upton, in his book, ‘The Barefoot Coach’ went on to explain Dhoni’s ‘lack of access to emotions.’
The 38-year-old on Wednesday made his first public appearance after India’s semi-final exit in the World Cup at a promotional event in New Delhi and revealed about his mindset during crunch situations.
“I would say I am like everyone else but I control it slightly better than some of the other individuals. I always felt that my emotions should be under control and if I am able to do that, my thinking would be more constructive,” Dhoni said at Mastercard’s ‘Team Cashless India’ event.
“We all get frustrated when things are not going our way. But does frustration leads to anything that is good for the team? I only think what needs to be done. Mistakes can happen from anyone. It can happen when you don’t execute your plans well. I like to get into the process again and think what can be done depending on the situation,” the former captain explained.
Dhoni’s calculated risks during crunch situations have been the stuff of folklore. Critics may argue that he has captained best in the shorter format of the game but he still is the second best captain in the Test format for India, if stats are anything to go by.
Hailed as one of the smartest cricketing brains, Dhoni led India from front with a match winning 91not out in the final of 2011 World Cup. It was under his captaincy that India successfully defended 129/7 in 20 overs to lift ICC Champions trophy title. His long list of achievements also includes winning CB series down under eleven-years-ago.
“In Test matches you have two innings and you get slightly longer duration to plan your strategies out. In ODIs, there is time constraint. In T-20s, everything happens very quickly,” he said.
“It might be an individual, who has committed a mistake or it might be the whole team. Maybe we didn’t execute the plan whatever the format may be. What you want to achieve as a team is to win the tournament but that’s a long-term goal. Ultimately, what you do is to break it into smaller things,” Dhoni added.
The Ranchi boy further recalled some fond memories of inaugural ICC T-20 World Cup in 2007 where the group stage match against Pakistan went for the tie-breaker (bowl-out) and India registering one of most famous win against the arch-rivals.
“There was something particular about that World Cup. The ‘Bowl-Out’ was one of the things,” he said. “I remember we would go for practice. Before every practice session, we would practice ‘Bowl Out’ before or after the warm-up. We said it very clear it is for fun but at the same time, whoever hits the wicket most number of times, we will use him if the situation arises. It has got nothing to do with I am a bowler, this is my job. It’s like a performance thing and we will keep doing it everyday and whoever has the best hit-ratio are the ones who will be used.
“Ultimately, winning or losing comes to each and every individual who is part of the team. In team sport, everybody has a role and a responsibility. Throughout the T20 World Cup, the roles and responsibilities given to individuals was fulfilled to the best manner possible. That was the reason we won the tournament,” he said.