Thank You, MS Dhoni aka Captain Cool

The man I'm going to talk about today needs no introduction. MS Dhoni (or Captain Cool) is one of the finest leaders any team can have. I wouldn't waste any of your time by writing his biography. You can find that on Wikipedia.

Early carrier

When he started his career, he was just another boy who wanted to hit every ball out of the stadium. Now he comes to bat at 6th or 7th position and bats according to the situation. So why did he change?

Controversies

When he was made the ODI captain instead of Rahul Dravid, everyone went overboard to criticise that move by BCCI. After all, cricket is like a religion in India:


And Dravid is like a cult figure without any doubt. That year, he was also selected to lead the Indian team for the T20 World Cup. Eliminating senior players from the team, keeping his favourite players even when they didn't perform, sure, controversies have always circled around him. But those controversies didn't affect his captainship one bit. 

Winning matters

He had an experienced spinner but he chose a medium spinner to bowl the final over of the final match of the World Cup against arch-rival Pakistan. Everyone (including me) thought that he had lost his mind. We all know what happened next. That's when everyone started to admire his captainship.

Source - thecommonmanspeaks

Trophies

He gave us Asia cup, Champions Trophy, made us number 1 in the test rankings. He led India to win the ODI Cricket World Cup after 1983. He scored a magnificent 91 runs in the final match. Can you ever in your life forget:


That match winning helicopter shot?

Guiding youngsters

You can see any photo of Indian team after winning a tournament under his captainship and you'll see him standing in the back, paving the way for other team-mates to celebrate the moment. There's an English proverb 'Be the king-maker, not the king.' He successfully became a king-maker.

Today when you praise Virat Kohli, Suresh Raina, Rohit Sharma or Ashwin for performing so well:


Then you should praise the man behind them as well. He was the one who made BCCI select younger players for the team. Don't be angry but be thankful to Mahendra Singh Dhoni for that.

Kohli will no doubt take the Indian team to new heights but can we expect the same ice-cool temper from him in the field? Our captain cool, MS Dhoni will always be remembered as a great leader.