How is Dhoni different from other captains?

We all know the Australian team that played a decade ago. They are considered to be the best of the teams in the history of Cricket.

Back in 2008, there was a tri-series held between India, Sri Lanka and this mighty Australian team in Australia, their home ground. It was a time when their defeat was considered an ‘upset’ and not a defeat.

In the 4th ODI of that series, India won a game against Australia. India restricted Australia for a meagre 159, which was later chased by the Indian batsmen. It was India’s first win against the Australians in the MCG. The entire country was celebrating. But none of the Indian players did.

This was the exact reaction of Dhoni. No smile. Pretty calm, as he always is. But that was his first away series as a captain. A victory should have got him jumping up and down.

This was the young Rohit Sharma’s reaction. He took gently shook hands and walked away. He played well to win the game for his team. At least he should have been elated.

Even the dressing room wasn’t celebrating. They just clapped their hands and went back.

Later, when Dhoni and Rohit were walking back, leaving the Australians behind, they had a small banter. That’s it.

The lack of any enthusiasm after a victory against the world champions in their own backyard baffled me. As a child, I thought a lot about it.

Recently, I read the biography of Dhoni, ‘The Dhoni Touch: Unravelling the Enigma That Is Mahendra Singh Dhoni’ written by ‘Bharat Sundaresan’. He answered this question in his book.

He writes:

With 10 runs to win, he called for a needless change of gloves. In cricket, it’s generally with a pair of gloves that you see information arriving from the dressing room. Dhoni was doing the opposite though. He was sending a poignant message back to the pavilion. ‘Nobody will celebrate on the balcony once we win this match.’

Here comes the masterstroke.

‘This was Mahi’s way of saying it’s no big deal. My bowlers got them all out for 160 and we are chasing it down, usme kaunse badi baat hai (there’s no big deal in it). If we celebrate wildly, the Aussies will be vindicated in their belief that this was an upset. We wanted to tell them that this is not a fluke. This is going to happen over and over again. The Aussies simply couldn’t handle it. They were shaken,’ a player from that tour revealed much later.

As expected, the lack of any celebration got into the heads of the Australians. Apparently, their captain Ricky Ponting couldn’t handle this. Nor could a few other senior players.

Normally any other captain would have celebrated. He would have shouted till his throat hurt and danced till his legs ached. The champagne bottles would go empty.

But Dhoni’s style was different. He knew how to get into the heads of the opponents. That was his style of war, without any bloodshed.

India won that tri-series too!