Words of inspiration by former India captain MS Dhoni that night resembled the one spoken by an astute leader. It was the ICC Champions Trophy 2013 final against England, and India were supposed to defend a rather modest total of 129/7 in 20 overs.
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Dhoni had become the first captain in the world to have won all the three ICC trophies, and it was the way he had led during that very night in Birmingham which will never be forgotten by the Indian cricket fans.
Right till the 17th over of the chase, it looked like England’s game to lose. However, the game has seen very few captains who know how to use the spinners effectively and efficiently. And it was the pair of Ravichandran Ashwin (2/15) and Ravindra Jadeja (2/24) which turned up in the death with the pitch being nothing less than a rank-turner.
MS Dhoni Infused Sense Of Belief During ICC Champions Trophy 2013 Final
With 19 runs to defend off the last two overs, Jadeja and Ashwin are asked to win it for their country. As the duo concede mere 14 runs, India register a memorable victory and clinch a second ICC title in two years.
A pumped-up Dhoni, during an interaction with former England captain Nasser Hussain post victory, revealed the pep-talk he had with his bowlers and rest of the teammates during the innings break.
When asked whether he doubts himself ever, the ‘Captain Cool’ remarked that the first and foremost thing he told his boys was to not look at the heavenly abode for divine intervention, and have the self-belief like a World No. 1 team is supposed to possess.
“It’s important to be positive. I was like let’s look for a good start – that’s something that is very critical. Don’t’ think about the result. And the first and foremost thing was don’t look up, God is not coming to save you. You have to fight it out. You are the No.1 ranked team, let’s play like that. If we lose, they’ll have to score the runs. We won’t make it easy for them.”
Ishant Sharma – The gamble which paid off
With 28 runs required off the last three overs, Dhoni handed the ball to the most expensive Indian bowler during the innings – Ishant Sharma (2/36). This, when he still had two overs of Umesh Yadav, and one each from Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Jadeja, and Ashwin still left.
The move seemed to have backfired as Ishant conceded a six and a couple of wides to bring the equation down to 20 required off 16 deliveries.
However, as if it was meant to be, the pacer dismissed Eoin Morgan and Ravi Bopara off successive deliveries to completely tilt the balance of the match completely. The rest, as they say, is history.
