Five Most Courageous Decisions By Indian Captains In Cricketing History

Whenever the legacy of a cricket captain is discussed the first thing that people talk about is their decision making. Throughout the history of Indian cricket, there have been various captains who made courageous decisions, which sometimes worked in the team’s favour and sometimes didn’t.

Indian captains have single-handedly shaped the course of history with their decisions, which not just had short term implications, rather it would affect the team, in the years to come.

The way Team India play today is also a by-product of some crucial calls by various Indian skippers of the past.

Here are five such courageous decisions by Indian captains that paid off handsomely:

5) MS Dhoni’s decision to hand the ball to Joginder Sharma in 2007 T20 World Cup’s last over

India’s triumph at the 2007 ICC T20 World Cup under the leadership of MS Dhoni will always be one of cricket’s most talked-about stories. Playing against arch-rivals Pakistan in the final, Dhoni’s decision to hand the ball to Joginder Sharma for the final over, worked out superbly.

Batting first, India had asked their neighbours to chase a total of 157 runs. In the last over, Pakistan required 13 runs with in-form batsman Misbah-ul-Haq on strike.

Dhoni’s courageous decision to allow Joginder Sharma – to bowl the last over, despite having Harbhajan Singh available, was a questionable call at first.

The pacer started off badly but picked up the all-important wicket of Misbah to hand India their first T20 World Cup win in the history of cricket.

The whole world would witness the immaculate decision-making skills of Dhoni in that match.

4) Sourav Ganguly’s decision to opt for batting and playing with two spinners in England in 2002

In English conditions, traditionally if a skipper wins the toss, normally they would opt to bowl first. Also playing with two spinners in England would seem like a bold decision. Sourav Ganguly took this shocking call playing against the home side in 2002.

The Indian team was already trailing the away series by 0-1 when Ganguly took the courageous decision of batting first after winning the toss.

His call of playing two spinners in Leeds proved correct as the visitors stormed to a big total of 628 runs at the loss of eight wickets.

Moreover, while England’s batting, Harbhajan and Anil Kumble took a combined 21 wickets in the match, to help India win the match and level the series 1-1.

3) MS Dhoni’s decision to back Ishant Sharma and let spinners bowl in death overs at the Champions Trophy 2013

In the Champions Trophy final of 2013, India faced off pre-tournament favourites and hosts England.

MS Dhoni’s courageous decision to back Ishant Sharma even though he went for runs aplenty previously, paid off handsomely.

The match was reduced to 20 overs per side due to rain. Virat Kohli scored 43 runs to help India to a total of 129 runs.

In the second innings, it seemed like England would run-away with the match. Ishant had gifted 27 runs in his three-over spell up until then.

Dhoni opted to back him in the 18th over, and this decision altered the course of the game completely. Ishant picked up two crucial wickets and brought India back in the match.

The rest of the damage was done by spinners Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja, who despite bowling in the death overs, helped India defend their target and win the match by a margin of five runs.

2) Sourav Ganguly’s decision to send VVS Laxman at No. 3 against Australia in 2001

It’s safe to say that Sourav Ganguly was a courageous captain. He never shied away from taking risky moves. The current BCCI president took an eyebrow-raising call when he sent in VVS Laxman to bat at no. 3 in the Kolkata Test versus Australia, in 2001.

Back then, the Aussie team was almost invincible. The visitors batting first, racked up a huge total of 445 runs.

In reply, the Indian team folded for a paltry 171 runs, after which Australia enforced a follow-on. That’s when Ganguly sent Laxman to bat at no. 3, and the courageous decision paid off handsomely.

Laxman scored 281 runs, while Rahul Dravid added 180 runs of his own, to help India to a humongous total of 657 runs.

Later, Harbhajan took matters into his own hands and helped India to a historic win that remains one of the best moments in the history of cricket for Indian fans.

1) MS Dhoni’s decision to come out for batting at No. 5 in 2011 ODI World Cup final

After a long wait of 28 years, India got their hands on the ODI World Cup trophy in 2011, that will always remain a historic triumph for Indian fans.

Back then, MS Dhoni took a courageous decision in the final, of coming out to bat at no. 5, ahead of Yuvraj Singh, who had been playing spectacularly at that spot.

Co-hosts Sri Lanka and India met in the final where the former, batting first, posted a huge target of 274 runs for the latter to chase.

Team India lost Virender Sehwag and Sachin Tendulkar early, but Gautam Gambhir stayed strong at one end.

After Virat Kohli’s dismissal, much to the surprise of everyone, Dhoni came out to bat at No. 5, and played a historic inning of 91 runs, helping India win their second ODI World Cup in the history of cricket.