MSD’S TRUST IN HIS INSTINCTS SETS HIM APART
M. S. Dhoni just makes the players want to try something extra for him which very few captains in the history of the game have been able to get out of their teams.
Chennai’s stunning comeback to win the title after missing out on a playoff spot last year — for the first time in IPL history — tells you how fortunes change ever so quickly in this format of the game.
There were no major changes to their squad, but you could sense a new determination and desire to make up for last year’s show and make it up to their loyal fans. The fact that the first half of the season was played in India no doubt helped but when they regathered in the United Arab Emirates it was as if they had never been away from each other for the last four months or more.
The gelling was immediate, and they showed their intent by beating the defending champions Mumbai in their first game of the second half of the tournament. They then had a patch where they lost three matches which they should have won and looked vulnerable. That is when the leadership of M. S. Dhoni came to the fore. In the first qualifier, where Chennai looked down for the count, he walked into bat ahead of the in-form Ravindra Jadeja and smashed the winning runs in no time to take the team to the finals. That’s what leadership is about — he was not in the best form, but he knew he had to show the way and he did so brilliantly.
Over the years this has made MSD the leader that we all wish we were. The instinct to do a particular thing at a particular time can be rewarding sometimes and not so at other times. But to stay cool when it doesn’t go your way is what makes MSD stand tall. He just makes the players want to try something extra for him which very few captains in the history of the game have been able to get out of their teams.
Now that he has agreed to be the mentor to the Indian team for the ICC World T20 Cup the expectations have gone even higher. Clearly with the IPL just finishing India will be the favourite since the Indian players will be acclimatised to the weather as well as pitch conditions more than that of other teams. Yes, there are players from other countries in the IPL, but not all of them have played the number of games the Indians have and so they might need some time to settle down and this ultra-short format of the game is such that an over or so can change the momentum and the game from where it’s hard to recover.
There was no need to even clarify that MSD won’t be paid a rupee for being the mentor of the team. He is someone who will never forget that what he is today is only because of Indian cricket and so whenever Indian cricket needs him, he will always be there. So, the question of him asking a fee is ridiculous, to say the least. That would not even enter his mind. If the others around him learn this lesson, then Indian cricket will benefit. If the others just remember that what they are today is simply because of Indian cricket, then they will continue to strive every muscle to take Indian cricket to even greater heights. Yes, their talent is
God-given but the opportunity to show that to the world and make a living out of it is due to Indian cricket and hopefully, they will never forget that. Most even find their life partner thanks to where Indian cricket takes them and this also should not be forgotten.
Pakistan is another team that will be familiar with the conditions as they have played most of their cricket in the UAE for the last decade or so. Even the Pakistan Super League till last year was played on the three grounds where the ICC World T20 will be played. Australia have never won this Cup and they will look to add it to their trophy cabinet. The West Indies have won it twice so with their natural flair and power-hitting they will be a dangerous team indeed. England
after winning the 50 overs World Cup in 2019 will be formidable as they have a fine team despite the absence of Ben Stokes and Jofra Archer. Their captain Eoin Morgan's form is a worry, but his leadership skills were once again seen in the IPL where he lifted Kolkata from a hopeless position when the event was in India to the runners-up position in the desert.
New Zealand will be the dark horses once again as they have this enviable ability to stay under the radar and keep springing and surprising their opponents with sheer determination and resilience.
So, after a heady finale to the IPL could we be in for an even more intoxicating ICC T20 World Cup?
Low on self-belief after a humiliating first-round exit from the 50-over World Cup, lacking in experience after playing a lone T20 International against South Africa in 2006, led by MS Dhoni who was making his captaincy debut, India was far from being the favourite to lift the inaugural World Twenty20 in 2007.
It didn’t help that India’s first match of the tournament, against Scotland, which could have served as much-needed preparation ahead of the clash against arch-rival Pakistan, was a washout.
The marquee clash was one for the ages, ending in an unprecedented football scoreline as India beat Pakistan 3-0 in the first-ever tiebreak bowl out in international cricket. India secured two crucial points and progressed to the Super ■ stage.
Grouped in the pool of death, India was pipped by the Kiwis by 10 runs in its first match in the Super ■s.
In a must-win scenario against England, Yuvraj
Singh launched a hapless
Stuart Broad into the
Durban night sky with six sixes off his over, and registered a 12-ball fifty, the fastest-ever in international cricket. With momentum on its side, India went on to outclass an unbeaten South Africa by 37 runs to seal a semifinal berth.
Up against the mighty Aussies in the last-four, India put up an imposing 1■■ with another Yuvraj special of 70 runs from 30 balls before the pacers put their hands up along with Harbhajan Singh to hand India a 15run win. Locking horns against Pakistan in the final, India was missing Virender Sehwag with an injury and was replaced by debutant Yusuf Pathan. After a shaky start, India’s top-scorer of the tournament, Gautam Gambhir, played anchor with a gritty 54-ball 75 before newcomer Rohit Sharma’s cameo of 30 off 16 helped the team post a fighting 157.
Down and out at 77/6 after Shahid Afridi fell for a golden duck, Misbah-ul-haq led Pakistan’s fightback and got the team within touching distance. With the equation down to six runs off four balls, Misbah played the infamous scoop straight to S. Sreesanth at short fineleg, handing India a five-run win and a World Cup title after 2■ years.
AWorld Cup victory was just the turnaround Pakistan needed following the unfortunate events of March 2009, when the Sri Lankan team bus was attacked in Lahore, forcing international cricket out of the country for the immediate future.
After a rocky start to its campaign with a 4■-run loss to host England at the Oval, Younis Khan’s men bounced back against the Netherlands with a clinical ■2-run win to book a spot in the Super ■ stage.
The team blew hot and cold throughout the tournament as it faltered against Sri Lanka by 19 runs chasing 151, before registering a thumping nine-wicket victory against New Zealand as Umar Gul’s astounding figures of 5/6 saw the
Kiwis crumble for just 99.
Having sealed a semifinal spot with that win, Pakistan was up against a relentless South Africa that had progressed to the last four after emerging unscathed from its Super ■ group comprising heavyweights West Indies, England, and India.
There was no better time for a long-overdue Shahid Afridi special. He wound the clock with a feisty 51 off 34, taking Pakistan to 95 in 12 overs before pacers Dale Steyn and Wayne Parnell put a stranglehold at the death to restrict it to 149.
Afridi completed the task with the twin strikes of power-hitters Herschelle Gibbs and AB de Villiers as Pakistan sneaked home by seven runs with a cushion of 23 to defend in the last over.
The final frontier was an unvanquished Sri Lanka that was riding on a 57-run hiding of the West Indies in its semifinal clash. After being asked to bowl, Abdul Razzaq struck thrice early on to leave the Lankans reeling at 32 for four. Kumar Sangakkara waged a lone battle with an unbeaten 64 to take them to 13■ for 6.
There were no further hiccups in Pakistan’s title bid as it sailed home by eight wickets with eight balls to spare in a run-chase sketched to perfection. Two finals in two editions of the T20 mega event, and Pakistan had laid the ghost of the 2007 final loss to India to rest at Lord’s, the Home of Cricket.
Ten months after a forgettable outing at the 2009 T20 World Cup that included a shock defeat to the Netherlands in the tournament opener at home, England lifted its first major ICC trophy.
Marshalled by a 33-year-old Paul Collingwood, England squeezed into the Super ■ despite going winless in the group stage. Rain played spoilsport as it went down to the West Indies by Duckworth/lewis (D/L) Method after posting 191/5. However, the rain gods compensated as they bailed it out against Ireland, which was chasing a paltry 121 for the win.
To England’s credit, however, it made most of its fortuitous escape. A six-wicket victory over Pakistan showed glimpses of a balanced unit finally gelling together before a 39run drubbing of South Africa reiterated its resurgence. England then sneaked home by three wickets against New Zealand to cement its place in the semifinal.
Asked to bowl first, England reduced Sri Lanka to
3■/3 in the Powerplay before spinners Graeme Swann and Michael Yardy further tightened the noose in the middle overs, leaving England to chase an under-par 129. Openers Craig Kieswetter and Michael Lumb made quick work of the Lankan attack with an opening stand of 6■ as Kevin Pietersen (42 not out from 26 balls) saw England home by seven wickets with four overs to spare.
Meanwhile, Michael Hussey’s rampage of 60 from 24 balls against defending champion Pakistan in the other semifinal set up the revival of the oldest rivalry in cricket in the sport’s newest format. The promise of the epic clash however petered out as a clinical England romped home by seven wickets with plenty to spare.
At ■/3, Australia was off to a nightmarish start as Ryan Sidebottom sent Shane Watson and Brad Haddin packing, and David Warner was found short of his crease. David Hussey (59 off 54) and Cameron White (30 off 19) then took Australia to a middling 147/6.
After Lumb’s departure in the second over, a 109-run partnership for the second wicket between Kieswetter and Pietersen staved off any other hiccups in the chase. Skipper Collingwood eventually hit the winning runs in the 17th over in a befitting end to England’s title drought.
The inevitability of the West Indies – a team made of T20 superstars — being crowned champion finally came to pass as the tournament reached the Asian shores — Sri Lanka — for the first time in 2014.
The signs of the imminent should have been glaring as the West Indies qualified for the Super ■ unconvincingly after a loss to Australia in a rain-marred match and a washout against Ireland— a trope increasingly consistent with the title-winner.
The Windies opened their account with a 15-run victory against England after a 100-run opening stand between Johnson Charles and Christ Gayle steered them to 179/5. Following a nine-wicket demolition by host Sri Lanka in the following game, the openers held their nerve to chase 1■ runs in the
Super Over of a must-win match against New Zealand and book a semifinal berth.
It was New Zealand’s second
Super Over loss of the tournament.
Coming into the semifinal against Australia with just one outright win from five matches, the West Indies refrained from tempting fate further. Gayle exploded with 75 runs from 41 balls as Marlon Samuels, Dwayne Bravo and Kieron Pollard rallied around him with frenzied cameos to take the Windies to a mammoth 205/4 on a slowing Premadasa pitch in Colombo. The Australian response unravelled at 131 with Ravi Rampaul scalping three for 16. However, West Indies’ start in the final against Sri Lanka affirmed that beating the Islanders at home in spinning conditions would be no mean task. After electing to bat, the in-form openers were back in the dugout with 14 runs on the board. Samuels’ resolute 7■ anchored the innings before a flourish by skipper Darren Sammy took the Windies to 137/6, with tormenter-in-chief Ajantha Mendis claiming four for 12.
Spinners Sunil Narine, Samuel Badree and Marlon Samuels then turned the tables, claiming five wickets between them and choking runs as Sri Lanka capitulated at 101. Once written off as franchise cricket superstars, the West Indians had united to mark a return onto the arena of international cricket and clinch its first major title since Clive Lloyd’s 1979 triumph.
Aconsistent performer at the World T20, Sri Lanka finally got its due in the shortest format of the game in the 2014 edition in Bangladesh after falling agonizingly short of the title in 2009 (final), 2010 (semifinal) and 2012 (final).
A formidable bowling comprising Lasith Malinga, Ajantha Mendis and Rangana Herath saw it through the group stage. Sri Lanka pipped South Africa by five runs in its opener owing to some tight bowling at the death. A hapless Netherlands then crumbled in 10.3 overs for 39, the lowest score in T20 World Cups. Following that, Rangana Herath’s stupendous exploits of 5/3 saw the Kiwis crumble to 60 in a chase of 120, with Kane Williamson scoring 42 of those runs.
The Islanders advanced to the semifinal having topped their group with three wins from five matches, going down in a lone contest against England.
Facing off against defending champion West Indies in its last four clash, Sri Lanka rode on some much-needed good fortune to book yet another final berth with a 27-run victory by the rain rule.
Needing ■1 runs from 37 balls with Marlon Samuels and Darren Sammy batting and Andre Russell yet to come, some may argue that it could have gone either way had it not been for the rain. Nevertheless, the Islanders now faced a tall order of taking on an unremitting and unbeaten India in the final. However, the Indians never found momentum on a slow Dhaka pitch, as they huffed and puffed to 130/4, with Virat Kohli’s dogged 5■ball 77 the only silver lining.
Save for Kusal Perera’s early dismissal in the second over, nothing came between Sri Lanka and the coveted trophy as Kumar Sangakkara steered the chase with an unbeaten half-century before Thisara Perera sealed the deal with a six.
After four heart-breaking losses in the last seven years in ICC tournaments, the Lankans had finally got their hands on a title.
The victory served as a fitting swansong for Sangakkara and Mahela Jayawardene — the workhorses of Sri Lankan cricket for whom it was their last T20I game for the islandnation.
With the player body in disarray following a payments dispute with the cricket board, the West Indies played the 2016 World Twenty20 with determination to clinch a second title and survive an existential crisis as a cricketing nation. To add to its woes, bigwigs Kieron Pollard and Sunil Narine were unavailable.
Chris Gayle set the tone for the team in the opener with an unbeaten 4■-ball 100 as the Windies sailed past England’s
1■2 with six wickets in hand and 11 balls to spare at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai. A seven-wicket demolition of defending champion
Sri Lanka and a hard-fought chase against South Africa in a low-scoring match in Nagpur meant the West Indies was all but through to the semifinal.
The only setback came in a shock defeat to qualifier Afghanistan as Rashid Khan and Mohammad Nabi claimed four wickets between them to deny West Indies in a chase of 124.
Power-hitters Lendl Simmons (■2 not out off 51) and Andre Russell (43 not out off 20) helped the West Indies beat India by seven wickets in the semifinal. Chasing 193, the Windies suffered early dismissals of Gayle and Marlon Samuels. But opener Johson Charles (52 off 36) and Simmons then stitched together a 97-run partnership before Russell pitched in and sealed the match with a four and a six in the 20th over.
After opting to bowl first at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata in the final, the West Indies restricted England to 155/9 as Joe Root and Jos Buttler showed resistance to lift their side from 23 for three.
The chase hobbled with Root removing openers Gayle and Charles in the second over. Samuels then played the innings of his career with an unbeaten ■5 off 66 balls — the highest individual score in a World Twenty20 final. With 19 required in the last over, Carlos Brathwaite, included in the squad as replacement for Pollard, stole the thunder with four sixes in four balls off an inconsolable Ben Stokes as the West Indies became the most successful team at the event with two titles to its name.