How MS Dhoni Gave His Own Version Of Cold Shoulder To Australia

Indian former captain MS Dhoni is known for is known for his cool and calm attitude both on and off the field. Well, who would’ve thought that the young wicket-keeper from Ranchi would become one of the greatest captain for India.

Be it, the 2007 T20 world cup, 2011 world cup, Champions Trophy, the 37-year-old cricketer has now achieved it all. While everyone has now started to doubt his ability to perform in shorter version of the game we all believe that the Jharkhand’s universal hero has one more explosion left in him.

Well, let us talk us about journalist Bharat Sundaresan’s book , The Dhoni Touch: Unravelling the Enigma That Is Mahendra Singh Dhoni, which was published on July 7 2018 and has so far caught the attention of the whole nation.

In the book, Sundaresan revealed how Dhoni asked his team not to celebrate in excitement when India were on the verge of defeating Australia in the Commonwealth Bank Series at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) in 2008.

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It was a way for Dhoni to show the Australians that the Indian victory was no great surprise or an upset. At that point of time Australia were the ruling world champions and a side which was hard to defeat.

After chasing down the 160-run target with 5 wickets in hand, Dhoni advised Rohit Sharma to make the customary post-match handshakes as inexpressive one in order to let their opponents know that India treated a victory over Australia in the same manner as they treated a win over any other country also an Australian defeat was no longer an upset.

In his book Sundaresan revealed:

“In February 2008, India were chasing down a facile total of 160 against Australia at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG). It was only the fifteenth ODI as captain for MS Dhoni, and he was at the crease with Rohit Sharma. With 10 runs to win, he called for a needless change of gloves. In cricket, it’s generally with a pair of gloves that you see information arriving from the dressing room. Dhoni was doing the opposite though. He was sending a poignant message back to the pavilion. ‘Nobody will celebrate on the balcony once we win this match.’

“Meanwhile, in the middle, Dhoni was handing down instructions to Rohit, on how the youngster should conduct himself while shaking hands with the Aussies once the match got over. He wanted it to be as tepid as possible. ‘When they give their hand, just firmly hold yours out without folding it like an obligation, but don’t overdo it. And just stare blankly at them without any hint of excitement.’ This was Mahi’s way of saying it’s no big deal. My bowlers got them all out for 160 and we are chasing it down, usme kaunse badi baat hai (there’s no big deal in it). If we celebrate wildly, the Aussies will be vindicated in their belief that this was an upset. We wanted to tell them that this is not a fluke. This is going to happen over and over again. The Aussies simply couldn’t handle it. They were shaken,’ a player from that tour revealed much later.

“This was back when the Australians were still at their indomitable best. Beating them meant a big deal to any opposition, that too in their own backyard at the mighty MCG. It was a period when Ricky Ponting’s team believed that every loss was an ‘upset’ and not just a win for their opponents. India had dominated this particular match from the beginning. Ishant Sharma, Sreesanth and Irfan Pathan had gathered nine wickets between them and shot out the hosts for just 159. India had more or less cruised to their target and now Dhoni the rookie wanted to give his all-conquering, world-beating counterpart his version of the cold shoulder.”

Now, we know the secret behind India’s victory in Australia in 2008.

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About Manish Sharma

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