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| Dhoni: The 'wizard' who catapults neglected players to heights of fame |
Only eight teams were participating in the first tournament of the Indian Premier League and in this tournament, all the attention of the fans was focused on the team of Deccan Chargers.
The fans expected that the Deccan Chargers team has the most aggressive batsmen in world cricket like Gibbs, Gilchrist, Symonds, and Afridi, so this team will be able to win the trophy. However, the team unexpectedly lost 12 out of 14 matches and finished last in the league.
Shahid Afridi said during this time that the captaincy of the team captain VVS Laxman was not good. Deccan Chargers changed captain midway through the tournament and then won the trophy the following year under the leadership of Andrew Gilchrist.
Similarly, Chennai Super Kings also have a history of changing their captain mid-tournament.
Ravindra Jadeja, who has shone as the best player on the field in the last two tournaments, took over the captaincy of Chennai Super Kings at the start of the previous tournament. After Dhoni, Ravindra Jadeja was expected to lead the team, but he was disappointed in this regard.
The pressure of captaincy on Jadeja was palpable and it continued to affect his own performance as well, leading to the defeat of Chennai Super Kings.
Dhoni took over the captaincy again in the latter part of the previous tournament, but by then time had passed. Chennai team finished 9th in the league round. This was the second tournament in IPL history in which a Chennai team did not make it to the playoffs.
The Chennai Super Kings team consisting of almost the same players also fielded in the current tournament. No major changes were made in the team and then Dhoni won the trophy keeping this team intact.
The biggest difference between the Chennai Super Kings team playing last year and this year is the captaincy.
Dhoni, who replaced Ravindra Jadeja as the captain, managed to steer the team to victory with his usual unique style, keeping the same team and players.
There is no doubt that Gudhoni's captaincy in the IPL is what sets Chennai Super Kings apart from other teams in the tournament. Dhoni's captaincy can turn ordinary players into match-winners.
If we look at Mumbai Indians, this is also an IPL team that looks very successful in this tournament.
The Mumbai team has always had star players like Sachin, Jayasuriya, Zaheer Khan, Rohit Sharma, Quinton de Kock, Surya Kumar, Pollard, Bumrah, and Malinga.
Mumbai Indians team is full of match winners who have won many tournaments consistently but if you look at Chennai Super Kings, this team keeps emerging a new match winner in every tournament.
Captain Dhoni, Suresh Raina and now Ravindra Jadeja are the players who have been the pillars of Chennai Super Kings for a long time.
In the IPL, Chennai Super Kings have produced match winners from players who were either unknown or out of form.
The reason for this is the attitude of the team management of Chennai Super Kings and the captaincy of Captain Dhoni.
Dhoni never loses his cool at any stage on the field. Whenever the team is in dire straits, they are the ones who work beautifully to steer the team in the right direction.
Dhoni is known to know the strengths and weaknesses of players and use them accordingly.
Also, he knows the strengths and weaknesses of the opposition players and strategizes accordingly, and turns the game in Chennai's direction.
If you look at the history of the IPL tournament, Chennai Super Kings' bowling unit has never been the best.
Dhoni has taken care of Chennai's bowling weaknesses with his brilliant fielding strategy. This is what makes Chennai Super Kings' bowling unit dangerous. This is where Captain Dhoni stands out from the rest.
Due to the absence of some players in the last IPL tournament, the Chennai team did not have the fastballs to play the death overs. Here Dhoni showed his experience and intelligence and gave a chance to a young bowler Pathirana and this Sri Lankan bowler also known as 'Chhota Malinga' dominated the tournament.
During a match, Dhoni was seen advising him on how to bowl in the death overs and since then he has not looked back.
Dhoni's formula for success is like a teacher teaching a student.
Today Dhoni has turned 42 but his fans still want to see him play in IPL. He has been the most successful captain of the Indian team under whose leadership India has won the Champions Trophy, T20 World Cup, and ODI World Cup.
Under his leadership, India has come to the first ranking in Test matches as well.
In the recent IPL, Dhoni won the title for the fifth time while captaining his team Chennai Super Kings in the world's biggest T20 league IPL and now he has also undergone an operation due to an injury.
However, the fans want him to continue to captain Chennai like this and keep the team winning matches.