Mahendra Singh Dhoni: The man Team India cannot afford to lose

A wicket-keeper, batsman, skipper and now a master tactician, the Indian skipper MS Dhoni can do it all. While some might consider him mere lucky, Dhoni has proved his mettle on one too many occasions to justify his importance in the blue outfit. MATCH HIGHLIGHTS

Dhoni's ability to stay calm under pressure has been a known fact for quite sometime now, but it was his cricketing sense that led the struggling World Champions to a thrilling win over the islanders on Thursday.

After being forced out of the tournament due to the hamstring injury, Dhoni surprisingly made his return for the final and boy oh boy, was it grand? The right-hander blended his fierce finishing skills while making use of the permutations and combinations to create a masterpiece of an innings for his side.

Team India were being seriously challenged by their rivals as the World Champions required 24 runs off 30 balls with two wickets in hand. Lack of wickets in hand was a major cause of worry for India and while other skippers would probably have eyed a quick finish, Dhoni chose to play on the bowlers as he saved the blitzkrieg for the final over.

Even before a run was scored in the final, Dhoni had made one of his crucial contributions to the Indian side. His decision to play Vinay Kumar instead of Umesh Yadav in the final turned out to be crucial as the RCB seamer held his ground to register a small yet important partnership of 15 runs with Dhoni.

The Indian skipper carefully assessed the situation and chose to retain strike - whenever possible - to keep the wickets intact. With Lasith Malinga's one over left in the game, Dhoni wasn't afraid to rotate the strike in the 46th over as he helped Vinay Kumar gain some confidence to face the Lankan speedster.

It was as if Dhoni had already derived a path to get India home and was just executing it with ease. After the fall of Vinay Kumar, he carefully guided Ishant Sharma to see off the Lankan bowlers while he waited patiently to unveil his masterplan until the final over.

Famous for his finishing skills, Dhoni took just four balls to seal the win for India in the final over. He slammed two sixes and a four off Shaminda Eranga to stun the islanders yet again, who at one stage looked favourites to upset the World Champions.

Dhoni saw Jadeja, R Ashwin, Bhuvneshwar Kumar and R Vinay Kumar getting dismissed in quick succession, but himself showed nerves of steel to steer his side home in company of number 11 Ishant Sharma.

With a historic treble to his name, MS Dhoni has turned into an asset that India can surely not afford to lose.

Source: http://indiatoday.feedsportal.com/c/33614/f/589706/s/2e922a17/l/0Lindiatoday0Bintoday0Bin0Cstory0Cms0Edhoni0Eguide0Eindia0Evs0Esri0Elanka0Efinal0Etri0Eseries0Efinal0Ematch0Escorecard0Eport0Eof0Espain0Eindian0Eskipper0C10C2910A360Bhtml/story01.htm

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