The MSD-era in Indian Cricket

The Indian Cricket were under crisis after India's then coach Greg Chappell got into a conflict with the Indian Captain Sourav Ganguly. Eventually it resulted in Ganguly parting ways with the Indian team. Rahul Dravid took over Ganguly as India's Captain in 2005-06. It wasn't as if Sourav Ganguly was a bad Captain! Infact, he was the one that changed the fate of Indian Cricket and made them learn to win Overseas. He backed match-winners like Virender Sehwag, Yuvraj Singh, Zaheer Khan & Harbhajan Singh even on their bad days. As a result of this, they brought a lot of laurels to the team. India under Ganguly won their first Test & ODI series in Pakistan. They also won a Test Series in West Indies followed by a drawn series in Australia. Also they reached the Finals of ICC Knockout Cup in 2000 and World Cup in 2003. They went on to win ICC Champions Trophy in 2002 sharing the title with Sri Lanka. After a lot of pressure from the Indian fans, Sourav Ganguly was brought back in the Indian team but without a leadership role.

Under Rahul Dravid, India won another Test Series in West Indies while ODI series in Pakistan in 2006. India won their first Test in South Africa in 2006 but went on to lose the series 2-1. However, after India's early exit in 2007 World Cup Greg Chappell left the Indian team. India toured England without a coach but they however, went on to win the Test Series while they lost the ODI Series 4-3.

 

Dravid gave up the Captaincy after India won the 2007 WT20 under MS Dhoni. Dhoni was suddenly now looked as the man who was going to take Indian Cricket forward. It was Anil Kumble to lead India in Tests considering Dhoni was still a little inexperienced but the ODI & T20I Captaincy was given to him. India's performance standards were now raised. They beat Pakistan 3-2 in an ODI Series at home. However, India had lost to Australia 4-2.

 

India went to Australia with a mix blend of experience and youth. However, some umpiring errors and batting collapses led to India losing the Test series 2-1 which could’ve ended the other way around. In this series, India faced allegations of racism against Andrew Symonds who mistakenly heard himself being called a Monkey. However, with some legal hearings it was held as some misunderstanding occurred between the players. This however led to some bitterness between the sides. Putting all that behind, India came into the ODI tri-series with a new looked approach. They made it to the best of 3 Finals and beat Australia in 2 of the Finals to clinch the title.

 

India also made it to the Asia Cup Final in 2008 but lost to Sri Lanka. With Kumble retiring from Tests, MS Dhoni became India’s Test Captain. India started off beating England in a 2-match series 1-0. Dhoni now had a big challenge ahead of himself as he was supposed to lead India in a Test Series in New Zealand. The tour however began with a T20I series that India lost 2-0 followed by an ODI series that they won 3-1 (their first ever ODI series win in New Zealand). With a side full of experience, MS Dhoni led his team to a 1-0 win in the 3-match Test series. India also beat Sri Lanka in a 3-match series 2-0 becoming the no.1 Test team in the world! They levelled the series 1-1 with South Africa playing at home.

 

Just like 2008 Asia Cup, India played Sri Lanka in the 2010 Asia Cup Final and this time they ended up winning it. This was followed by a Test Series in Sri Lanka which was drawn 1-1. The season ended with India beating Australia & New Zealand 2-0 & 1-0 respectively in a 2-Test series at home.

 

The big challenge ahead was conquering South Africa. It was never easy to compete against the likes of Graeme Smith, Hashim Amla, Jacques Kallis, AB de Villiers, Mark Boucher, Dale Steyn & Morne Morkel especially in their home conditions. India were put in to bat first on a seaming pitch in the 1^st Test in Overcast conditions. They were bowled out on 136 and conceded 620/4 as South Africa won the first Test by an innings & 25 runs. India ended up winning the 2^nd Test by 87 runs which was another low scoring affair. In the 3^rd Test at Cape Town, South Africa were 98/5 in their 2^nd innings leading India by just 96 runs. India let the match slip away from that position as Kallis scored a century. They now needed to chase 340 runs to win. The match ended in a draw as the series was level 1-1. They won a couple of close matches in the ODI Series but lost the series 3-2. Their competitiveness was something to take a note off for the upcoming World Cup.

 

As India were going to play the World Cup at home the expectations from them were quite high! After a slow start to the tournament, they found form at the right time in the tournament. India were just 1 step away from the dream as they met Sri Lanka in the Final. Sri Lanka scored 274/6 riding on Mahela Jayawardene’s century. India were reduced to 31/2 but due to the contribution of Gautam Gambhir who scored 97 & Dhoni who scored unbeaten 91, India won by 6 wickets. This was their 2^nd World Cup title which they won after a gap of 28 years.

In 2013, India with the help of young players like Virat Kohli, Shikhar Dhawan, Rohit Sharma, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Umesh Yadav, Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja won the Champions Trophy. With this, MS Dhoni became the first Captain in the world to win all three ICC titles.

India also won Asia Cup T20 in 2016 and became the first team in Cricket history to whitewash Australia in Australia in one of the 3 formats under Dhoni. Great Captains make great teams and leave behind them a legacy for the future. MS Dhoni’s stint as India’s Captain raised the standards and made India a professional side capable of winning matches and tournaments. He was the one who put emphasis on the fitness culture and made India an excellent fielding unit. A great batsman will make runs for you while a great bowler will get you wickets but a great fielding side will not only save runs but put constant pressure on the opposition. And this is what he did!