Mahi Way! 10 Times Dhoni Proved He Is The Coolest IPL Captain So Far
Be it his death over heroics, or his behind-the-wickets tactics, here are 10 moments which prove that Dhoni was the coolest captain across the seasons so far.
Social media went into overdrive on Thursday afternoon, after it was announced that former Indian cricketer, Mahendra Singh Dhoni, will be replaced by Ravindra Jadeja as the skipper of Chennai Super Kings, after 14 seasons. Be it his death over heroics, or his behind-the-wickets tactics, here are 10 moments which prove that Dhoni was the coolest captain across the seasons so far.

1. In the first playoff in IPL 2021, chasing 173 for victory against the Delhi Capitals (DC), Chennai Super Kings(CSK) looked in a bit of trouble at the start of the 19th over, when they needed 24 off 11 balls. In his typical style, Dhoni, despite struggling with the bat for the entire season, promoted himself above Ravindra Jadeja, smashing an unbeaten 18 off six balls, once again proving that despite his age, he still remained one of the best finishers in the limited-overs format!
2. Dhoni’s sense of humour has been display on the field several times, and perhaps one of the best instances of Mahi’s sense of humour on display was during the match between CSK and Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) in 2018, in Pune. While SRH’s Shikhar Dhawan was batting, he pushed a full delivery from Harbhajan Singh onto the leg side, which saw Dhoni sprint towards the ball, to prevent the batsmen from picking two runs. As he picked the ball he gestured towards Jadeja, who was probably a bit slower than Dhoni in reacting to the shot!
3. During IPL 2020, in a match against Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR), Dhoni pulled of one of the most memorable catches in the history of IPL. Batting first, KKR’s Shivam Mavi tried to get some final and crucial runs for his team, when he edged Dwayne Bravo, and the ball went to a diving Dhoni’s right, who wasn’t wearing his gloves. As a result, the ball popped out of his hand and went in the air, which saw the keeper run after it and dive to take the rebound with both hands.
4. 2016 and 2017 saw MS Dhoni lead Rising Pune Supergiants, since CSK was banned for two years. In the 2016 edition, Dhoni scored 64 runs off just 32 deliveries, scoring 23 runs in the final over, bowled by Punjab Kings XI’s Axar Patel including a flat-batted four over the covers, and the winning runs came off the last delivery when Dhoni hit a six over Deep Mid Wicket.
5. After losing the final in 2008 and getting knocked out of the semi-finals in 2009, Dhoni became the first Indian captain to lift the IPL trophy in 2010, and then became the first captain in the history of IPL, to defend the title in 2011, beating an in-form Virat Kohli and Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) in the final. The unique feat has been only achieved twice with Rohit Sharma winning back-to-back titles in 2020.
6. Returning as the CSK captain in 2018, after the franchise was banned for two years, Mahi once again proved his worth as the skipper as he guided the team to their third title, proving all those experts wrong, who, at the start of the tournament ruled out CSK as the favourites to win the trophy because of an aging squad, and for not being in the competition for two years.
7. Dhoni is known for being cool and calm in the most tense situations, yet in 2019, Dhoni proved he is human as well and truly, lost his temper. While chasing 152 against Rajasthan Royals(RR), the fourth ball of the final over saw the on-field umpire signal no-ball, only to be turned down by the square-leg umpire. An angry and a confused Dhoni walked onto the middle of the pitch to have a heated argument with both the umpires. Dhoni was fined 50% of his match fees, but he won over his fans who were quick to point that Dhoni was right in being angry with the match officials.
8. In 2010, in the final against Mumbai Indians, Dhoni came up with a rather unique field setting for the in-form and dangerous West Indian batter, Kieron Pollard. Mahi asked Australia’s Matthew Hayden to be at the edge of mid-off in the penultimate over of the MI innings. Pollard hoiked the very next delivery down the ground, straight into the hands of Hayden, to depart for a 10-ball 27.
9. In 2016, while playing Rising Pune Supergiants, against, Kings 11 Punjab, KL Rahul, tried to late cut a spinner, but Dhoni, raised his left leg to stop the ball saving a certain boundary!
10. Celebrating the team’s victory in the 2018 IPL final over SRH, he left his team to celebrate the victory to be his (then) three-year-old daughter, Ziva instead, which drew a lot of love from the netizens. Ziva ran straight into her doting dad’s arms and Dhoni proved his commitment on field, but nothing is probably more important to him than his family.