3 decisions that MS Dhoni took in the 2007 World Cup to establish his legacy as the Indian captain

When the inaugural T20 World Cup was held in 2007 in South Africa, MS Dhoni had captained a young Indian team. The Indian team had just a single T20I match before the tournament. Veteran players like Sourav Ganguly, Sachin Tendulkar, and Rahul Dravid had decided to pull out of the tournament. The Indian team was under a lot of pressure after a sudden exit from the ODI World Cup in the group stages.

MS Dhoni laid a strong foundation for a dominant decade for team India. Senior players like Yuvraj Singh, Gautam Gambhir, and Virendra Sehwag stepped up at different stages of the T20 World Cup. Dhoni backed youngsters like Piyush Chawla and RP Singh to help them stay confident and perform well. Ultimately, the Indian team overcame every hurdle to win the inaugural T20 World Cup title.

Some of the important decisions that Dhoni took during the 2007 T20 World Cup is as follow:

Slow bowlers in bowl-out against Pakistan

The match between India and Pakistan was a closely fought encounter that ended in a draw. In the bowl-out, Pakistan went for their regular bowlers. But Dhoni chose to play slow bowlers like Sehwag, Uthappa, and Harbhajan Singh.

Dhoni had stood close to the stumps and overseen his bowlers hitting the right target. India won the bowl-out by a 3-0 margin. This was the first effective yet unique decision he made as an Indian captain.

Securing a win against Australia

The T20 World Cup Semi-final against Australia was always going to be a heated match. The Australian team had dominated most of the tournament after their win in the ODI World Cup. During the semi-final match, Australian bowlers dominated most of the match. But Yuvraj Singh's 70 runs off 30 balls and some good supporting knocks by Dhoni and Uthappa helped Indian put a decent target on board.

During the chase, Australian batsmen Adam Gilchrist, Matthew Hayden, and Andrew Symonds were in the mood to finish the game early.

But Dhoni made some smart bowling changes that helped India stay in the game. India eventually knocked Australia out of the T20 World Cup. This was the first glimpse of captain cool Dhoni and his poker face during intense situations.

The final masterstroke

The India-Pakistan final in Johannesburg was a revolutionary match of the tournament. Virendra Sehwag was injured so the Indian management decided to play Yusuf Pathan. It was his debut T20 international match.

Gautam Gambhir played an important knock to take India to 157. Moreover, at one point, the Pakistan team was reeling at 77/6. But Misbah-ul-Haq of Pakistan tried to take his team single-handedly closer to the target. He smashed Harbhajan Singh's deliveries all over the park.

India had just 13 to defend in the last over and Dhoni could have played his lead spinner. But he gave the ball to Joginder Sharma, who was playing his first major tournament for India.

Misbah got his team closer to the target with just 6 runs needed off four balls. Pakistan looked set to win the tournament. But then Misbah played the scoop shot and Sreesanth was positioned at the right place to catch the ball.

Thereby, India won the inaugural T20 World Cup trophy in 2007 and entered a new era in the history of cricket.

MS Dhoni had played all his cards right during the tournament to help India secure the historic victory.

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