Dhoni’s ’Midas Touch’ continues

From sources by Team Bellevision
Bellevision Media Network

New Delhi, 08 August 2010: The golden locks that once invited former Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf’s fancy may not be there, but the Indian skipper’s luck - barring with the toss - hasn’t deserted him so far and continues to culminate into an enviable captaincy record in which he hasn’t lost a Test series yet.

 

 

The bike-loving Indian skipper – who hails from Ranchi – has been the flagbearer of small-town cricketers – like Suresh Raina, Praveen Kumar and Ravidra Jadeja – who made it big. He has also been credited with taking forward Ganguly’s legacy of showing confidence in the youngsters, just like he forced many a hearts to skip beats by asking Joginder Sharma to bowl the crucial final over in the T20 World Cup final against Pakistan in 2007 and pulled it off.

 

 

It has been a mixture of the above and his successful and calculated gambles that has transformed into a record that is every skipper’s dream. Dhoni started as a stop-gap captain, captaining India for the first time in a Test against South Africa when regular captain Anil Kumble was not available. India were trailing in the series 0-1 after two Tests but Dhoni helped India in levelling the series by winning the Kanpur Test. He has not looked back since.

 

 

Following are the Test series in which Dhoni led India in at least two matches.

- *Four-match series vs Australia in India in 2008-09, which India won 2-0.
- Two-match series vs England in India in 2008-09, which India won 1-0.
- **Three-match series vs New Zealand in NZ in 2008-09, which India won 1-0.
- Three-match series vs Sri Lanka in India in 2009-10, which India won 2-0.
- Two-match series vs South Africa in India in 2009-10, which ended 1-1.
- Three match series vs Sri Lanka in Sri Lanka in 2010, which also ended 1-1.

* The series comprised four matches but Dhoni captained only in two. Kumble captained in the other two.
** The series comprised three matches but Dhoni captained only in two (first and third). Sehwag captained in the second drawn Test.

 

Dhoni’s overall captaincy record in Tests stands at:
Matches- 16, Won -10, Lost – 2, Drawn – 4.