Former Indian all-rounder, Irfan Pathan has revealed that former Indian skipper, MS Dhoni liked to control his bowlers during the start of his captaincy career back in 2007 but he started to trust the bowlers by 2013, a phase during which he also became a calmer leader. Pathan, who played under Dhoni as part of both the 2007 World Cup-winning team and the 2013 Champions Trophy-clinching side, said as the time past by, Dhoni’s captaincy changed in more ways than one.
Talking about Dhoni’s captaincy from 2007 to 2013 during a show on Star Sports, Pathan said, “In 2007, it was the first time and you understand that when you are given a big responsibility of leading a team, you get excited. The team meetings were always small though, both in 2007 and 2013 during Champions Trophy, just 5 minutes meeting.”
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Recalling the one change that he noticed in Dhoni, Pathan said, “…in 2007, he used to run from wicketkeeping to bowling end in excitement and try to control the bowler as well but by the time 2013 came he was letting the bowler control themselves. He was very calm and in control.”
Was the captain always this cool? ❄️🤔
Tell us what you think is @msdhoni’s best quality as captain, and watch #CricketConnected as @IrfanPathan weighs in with his thoughts! pic.twitter.com/0f9MNtk4qb
— Star Sports (@StarSportsIndia) June 28, 2020
Dhoni has been on a sabbatical from competitive cricket since India’s semifinal exit from the ODI World Cup last year. He led the country in limited-overs formats from 2007 to 2016 and in Test cricket from 2008 to 2014.
MS Dhoni holds the captaincy record of winning all ICC trophies. Under his captaincy, India won the inaugural edition of the T20 World Cup in 2007, the 2010 and 2016 Asia Cups, the 2011 ODI World Cup, and the 2013 Champions Trophy. Pathan asserted by 2013, Dhoni had started trusting spinners more in crunch situations and made them as match-winners.
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Describing the same, Irfan Pathan added, “Between 2007 and 2013 he gained the experience of trusting his slow bowlers and spinners and by the time Champions Trophy came, he was very clear that in crucial time he needs to get his spinners into play to win the games.”
