'MS Dhoni Was Furious, He Ripped The Team To Shreds And Gave Them An Ultimatum' - R Sridhar Recalls The Incident When Captain Cool Lost It

Despite the fact that there were times when even the legendary “Captain Cool” lost it, MS Dhoni has always been renowned for his cool demeanour. Some of those situations were caught on camera, such as the man giving Mitchell Johnson the cold shoulder after clashing with the former Australia speedy or yelling at Manish Pandey at the non-end striker’s for ignoring him.

Along with the various cheeky comments he made to journalists attempting to create their own hooks, he once aggressively stormed onto the field during an IPL game to argue with the on-field umpires about a no-ball decision.

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MS Dhoni Was Furious At Lack Of Effort And Dipping Fitness Standard: R Sridhar

However, one incident of MS Dhoni losing his composure was recounted in R Sridhar’s memoir, when the former fielding coach described how the former India skipper was left fuming at his teammates. In response to his colleagues’ sagging shoulders, Dhoni, who has consistently set strict standards for fielding and whose efforts helped India win the 2011 World Cup, did not hold back.

“Getting back to my early days with the Indian team… following MS’ inputs, we began to get out fielding house in order with the World Cup in mind. We were playing West Indies at the Feroz Shah Kotla in October 2014 – a match we won comfortably but where we were absolutely shoddy on the field. MS was furious at what he perceived to be lack of effort and dipping fitness standards,” In his book “Coaching Beyond,” Sridhar, who took over as the fielding coach in 2014, wrote.

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India won the second game by 48 runs despite still having weaknesses after losing the first ODI and trailing the series 0-1 overall. India would have had trouble getting to 263/7 if not for the captain’s unbeaten 51 off 40 balls. Before collapsing and losing eight wickets for 45 runs and being bowled out for 215, West Indies were cruising at 170/2 at one point.

MS Dhoni Made It Clear That If They Don’t Meet Certain Standards, They Would Not Make The World Cup Cut: R Sridhar

A clearly unhappy MS Dhoni had stated following the game: “I feel quite a few things are missing. We have to pull our socks up. We have not played to our potential. This game is a crucial eye-opener for us. We are on the winning side, but we could have lost this.” As Sridhar said, when the squad went back to the locker room, MSD gave the team somewhat of a bollocking.

“In the dressing room, he ripped the team to shreds and gave them an ultimatum, making it clear that if they didn’t meet certain standards in fielding and fitness, they would not make the World Cup cut, no matter what name they answer to. That showed me the kind of fielding culture he was looking to establish in white-ball cricket,” he added.

Sridhar is alluding to the controversial Windies withdrawal series’ second ODI when he mentions the game. After the third match was postponed owing to cyclone Hudhud, the tour’s original schedule of five one-day internationals, three tests, and one T20I was changed to four.

The West Indies squad was abandoning the remainder of the tour owing to a salary disagreement between the players and the West Indies Cricket Board at the time of the fourth ODI in Dharamsala, as stated by then-captain Dwayne Bravo during the toss.

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