Strategy lessons from the Captain – MS DHONI
Mahendra Singh Dhoni (MSD) — the Greatest Of All Times (GOAT) in the history of cricket has truly and definitely defined the old famous saying of the sport as a ‘Gentleman’s game’. The Indian cricket team has clearly been tenacious and evolved stronger throughout the years, ever since MSD made his captaincy debut back in 2007. He proved that a game is not defined by the number of wins/losses, leading stats as a player, sledging & aggression for dominance etc, but sheerly matters on the alignment with ones STRATEGY implemented and delivered best in that hour of the game.
Why is the strategy so important in a game of cricket?
A strategic thinking enables one to stay in the game by taking the right steps with calculated risks and focusing on the process rather than on the result. A leader who promotes strategic thinking as a collective responsibility amongst every player, would eventually see the positive sides of individual contributions made. As MSD popularly says, ‘Focus on the process, results will be followed’ clearly defines his legacy left behind for India and the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) franchise with the plethora of trophies and nail-biting finishes throughout in his career.
Let us look into some life lessons that can be imbibed from MSDs thought process:
- Always be Opportunistic:
Rolling back to 2007 when the Indian team exited the ODI world-cup cheaply with all senior players put to blame for the defeat, the Indian team badly needed a new captain who could revive the teams struggling performance issues. A ray of light came from MSDs torch after his heroic audacity displayed in winning the T20 world-cup, the same year with young blokes of the Indian team that sent shock waves across the veterans.
MSD was politely offered by BCCI the full-time ODI captaincy from Rahul Dravid to reflect his strategies from his T20 captaincy win. Though it is exciting to step into captaincy shoes, it comes with a lot of responsibilities on shoulder by balancing both team’s performance and one’s own career not put at stake. The results started to reflect very quickly with the Commonwealth series win at Australia in 2007/08, dominating the Australian deadly bowling attacks with timely boundaries and constant rotation of strikes, leaving no room for falling prey to aggression and sledging tactics by the opponents.
2007 remains a year of enlightenment for India surpassing the worst nightmare defeat to Bangladesh in the start of the year to heroic fireworks beating Australia on their home soil. And, most importantly a torchbearer in a 24-year-old Ranchi boy that looked promising for the Indian cricket in the years to come.
“Leadership is the capacity to translate vision into reality” — MS Dhoni
2. Define your goals:
In cricket, we are eager to win the game having atleast one from the best playing XI to win the matches, but without adaptability and shared responsibilities, we can never be consistent in winning games. Each of the playing XI should be motivated to understand their role in the match and how they need to adapt as per the dynamics of the game.
MSD observed gaps in players fitness levels that fueled as blockers for winning matches and preparing for the upcoming world-cup in 2011 which was 3 years away. Some senior players were given outright pink slips if they failed on fitness tests and that was not well received by the veterans and fans.
But MSD sticked to his goals and accepted harsh criticism enroute his world-cup vision. Soon all the cricketers aligned with the strong determination on the fitness goals and Indian dressing room looked like on the path to rampage between 2009–2011 coupled with the rising Indian Premier League (IPL) attracting new age talent. A new generation of Indian cricket talent were promoted and excelled in those years such as Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, Ravindra Jadeja etc.
“Strong characters are needed in the game” — MS Dhoni
3. Focus & prioritize the process:
Most of us rely on the outcomes and results which makes us neglect the process and priorities that are needed for achieving the results. That is the exact reason why our probabilities of achieving the goals deviate towards the odds rather than the evens.
In the game of cricket, there were days where centuries and 5-wicket hauls were adored more than nail biting finishes. But with the evolving game of cricket in the shorter formats and the rise of MSD, prioritizing the game has become an important task.
MSD has always constructed his innings with the bat to build partnerships irrespective of the scoreboard and ensured that balanced strike-rate was maintained to achieve the target score. Also, with his wicket-keeping lens, he ensured to provide the right tactics to bowlers and fielders to restrict the opponents even in their easy wins converted to nail-biting finishes. It doesn't matter if you are achieving or restricting a target but abiding by the process to take the game till the last ball is more important.
“It is more important to build partnerships rather than centuries. Results would eventually follow” — MS Dhoni
4. Take Responsibility & calculated Risks:
Ownership matters in any activity or task we perform, and the power of decision making should be catered with risks taken at the right time. In the gentleman’s game of cricket dictionary, the 2 words ‘Responsibility’ and ‘Calculated risks’ never existed until MSD arrived.
Cricket was played as a sport to re-write history books on individual level records such as centuries, wickets, best-bowling, catches, stumpings but lesser on team-level records such as close matches won/lost, number of semis/finals, records by players under captain, records by players in all formats of the game, fair-plays etc.
MSD perhaps might not have the best individual records as a player, but has been a stellar player when leading different teams, different players in different formats of the game. He was known for his calculated risks that he takes by trusting on his players and uses them as trump/wild cards to outsmart the opponents strategies.
Eg.1 In 2007, handing over the world-cup final over ball to Joginder Sharma against Pakistan
Eg.2 In 2011, backing Yuvraj Singh as a strong non-striker against SriLanka in the world-cup final
Eg. 3 In 2016, backing Hardik Pandya to bowl the final over against Bangladesh in a world-cup match
Eg. 4 In 2022, constant backing of Ruturaj Gaikwad throughout the IPL season has made him a valuable player of CSK in the openers segment
Eg. 5 Recently in 2023, Tushar Deshpande who was expensive in the start of the IPL season has turned out to be leading franchise wicket taker for the season
“Leadership is the capacity to translate vision into reality” — MS Dhoni
5. Encourage & back your team:
A true leader does not encourage when there is bright sunshine, but rather does so when there is no light on the other side and walks as a torch-bearer guiding the team towards enlightenment.
MSD was always known for his backing up trait of teammates and identifying the hidden potential of talent. He is known for his grooming of talent for years transforming them as lethal weapons for the game of cricket.
Rohit Sharma & Ravindra Jadeja have been consistently backed by MSD between 2008–2012 turning them as what they contribute to the bigger game today. Virat Kohli ever since he made his debut in 2008 never missed a match and sealed his spot at №3 & №4 and eventually cementing his place for 2011 world-cup.
MSD has been a messiah in transforming any playing-11 squad both for international & domestic cricket that he captained using his own mantra, that still surprises many active and legendary cricketers of the game.
“You learn a lot more when you’re going through a rough period compared to the good times when everything goes your way” — MS Dhoni
6. Be Shrewd & Sensible:
In the game of cricket, it is very important to understand the game and change the course of strategy both by ball & bat. MSD has been one of the greatest cricketers to trick the opposition team by understanding their weak areas and targeting them in that direction. He never adopted aggression as a method, but rather was calm spectator of the game behind the stumps and guiding his bowlers and fielders.
As a wicketkeeper, he still holds the record of most number of stumpings in a short reaction span time. He also has correctly predicted next ball wickets by placing his bowlers line and fielders spots in the right places.
Though he is known for his absolute shrewd strategies both by bat and ball on the field, he is also known for his post presentation matches witty replies that were an instant hit. He is a person who knows the balance between maintaining sensibility and aggression.
Chennai Super Kings led by MSD has been the only IPL team to consistently bag the fair play award every season of IPL by not exhibiting any unwanted aggressive behavior and thereby respecting every indiviual of the game. Yet CSK as a franchise is the most successful team in the history of IPL and is the 2nd most valuable team in numbers.
“He allows himself to make those tough decisons on the field” – Virat Kohli
Well, it is hard for us to accept that our childhood idol has turned 40 this year in 2023 and would also be retiring soon from IPL cricket, but he would definitely remain in our hearts for making billions glued to watch his stylish match winning knocks and not to forget his smiling witty replies and post presentation pep-talks to young blokes..
Indian cricket is truly & greatly honored to have such a noble & generous gentleman, captain and lead the Indian team over the years, making it one of the strongest and toughest teams to compete in the game.
For a man who has achieved almost every captain dreams, by winning games & trophies for their team, MSD yet remains humble and grounded not forgetting his roots and happily settled at his own hometown – Ranchi..
“On a personal note, I take pride and feel lucky for enjoying my childhood & adulthood throughout, by watching and growing along MS Dhonis career from his 183* knockout in 2005 uptil his 50 knock in 2019" – Ragha Chaitanya
“Once a CAPTAIN, always a CAPTAIN”
Post in comments your fan moments and any inspiring stories from MS Dhoni…
