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[ramshorns]

20-20 WC champion

No1. in Test cricket team in the world.

50 Over WC Champion

On top of that

Led CSK to IPL championship.

Led CSK to Champion league win

And also led in many more great wins like the Tri-series championship win in Australia in 2008.

Always the man with the Midas touch and making the tough calls and more importantly the right calls.

Captain cool.  Never loses his temper on the field one of the traits of a great skipper.

Ladies and gentlemen  to the best captain India ever had.

It is not an accident he has won everything there is to be won in cricket in each and every format.

[dextrous]

...and there was a time when fools would argue with me over whether MSD should be in the team ahead of Parthiv and KKD...or better yet "Who is Dhoni?"

Apologies accepted.

[ramshorns]

...and there was a time when fools would argue with me over whether MSD should be in the team ahead of Parthiv and KKD...or better yet "Who is Dhoni?"

Apologies accepted.

Do not worry about the apologists.  This is not even close anymore and it is no accident we won so many accolades as a team under him.

[dextrous]

...and there was a time when fools would argue with me over whether MSD should be in the team ahead of Parthiv and KKD...or better yet "Who is Dhoni?"

Apologies accepted.

Do not worry about the apologists.  This is not even close anymore and it is no accident we won so many accolades as a team under him.

They need to hit and finish it soon.

[ramshorns]

...and there was a time when fools would argue with me over whether MSD should be in the team ahead of Parthiv and KKD...or better yet "Who is Dhoni?"

Apologies accepted.

Do not worry about the apologists.  This is not even close anymore and it is no accident we won so many accolades as a team under him.

They need to hit and finish it soon.

How long you have been watching cricket?  When a thread like this opened that means we have won and there is nothing more to be said.  Enjoy!!!!

[LosingNow]

The greatest captain in cricket ever. Period. i am not exaggerating. The results are there for all to see.

As a leader in sports, he should be placed in the league of Lombardi, Phil Jackson..

[CLR James]

Absolutely. I think Manmohan writes his scripts. Manmohan Desai that is. What an innings today under personal and team pressure. He is the real deal.

[LosingNow]

Absolutely. I think Manmohan writes his scripts. Manmohan Desai that is. What an innings today under personal and team pressure. He is the real deal.

..he asked for it and the coach and seniors told him to go.. And he delivered.

[RicePlateReddy]

Greatest in terms of victories - check
Greatest in terms of ensuring India's domination - check
Greatest in terms of coolness - check*
Greatest in terms of dignity - tied with Kapil among the post 1970s captains
And surely a great innings today under pressure. The most important Indian innings in ODIs along side Kapil's 175*


* - I loved his reaction on hitting the winning six. Focus and then a nice twirl of the bat in his left hand. If he had a cigar he would blown a circle of smoke!

[LosingNow]

* - I loved his reaction on hitting the winning six. Focus and then a nice twirl of the bat in his left hand. If he had a cigar he would blown a circle of smoke!

[ruchir]

Bow to the greatest Indian captain ever.... 

[suraj]

And wins it for the team with a captain's knock

Never thought I could say this for a man- but love u Dhoni!!!!

[dave_dj]

* - I loved his reaction on hitting the winning six. Focus and then a nice twirl of the bat in his left hand. If he had a cigar he would blown a circle of smoke!

Yeah - that was really mischievously cute!

[dave_dj]

Absolutely. I think Manmohan writes his scripts. Manmohan Desai that is. What an innings today under personal and team pressure. He is the real deal.

I guess that this is New India with lots of confidence!!  If only we could get rid of the scams and the politicians - and have these people lead to success in other walks of life.

[CLR James]

Absolutely. I think Manmohan writes his scripts. Manmohan Desai that is. What an innings today under personal and team pressure. He is the real deal.

I guess that this is New India with lots of confidence!!  If only we could get rid of the scams and the politicians - and have these people lead to success in other walks of life.

Did you see Sharad Pawar leave the box to be in time for the presentations as soon as pawar play was announced?

[ramshorns]

That promotion of himself today over YS when going through a lean patch and stay there till the end proved to be yet another master stroke by the man.  This guy knows what he is doing.

[cricinfo]

He is a captain who never stops in acknowledging mistakes,faults and goof ups  including that of his own!

[dave_dj]

He is a captain who never stops in acknowledging mistakes,faults and goof ups  including that of his own!

This is very unlike a typical  Indian who always likes to hide faults or eschews controversies.  Transparency is refreshing although sometimes a little on the edge.  This all works out because he is successful and draws confidence from that.

[ramshorns]

Gilly was on India TV just a few seconds ago and was singing praises of MSD and his cool and calm nature.  Looks like Gilly is already there for the IPL and stopped by for the game.

[suraj]

That promotion of himself today over YS when going through a lean patch and stay there till the end proved to be yet another master stroke by the man.  This guy knows what he is doing.

That action takes a lot off balls

Afridi sent Razzak instead of him

[LosingNow]

Gilly was on India TV just a few seconds ago and was singing praises of MSD and his cool and calm nature.  Looks like Gilly is already there for the IPL and stopped by for the game.

They have all landed for IPL - Warne, Gilly et al.
Warne was tweeting about his arrival in Mumbai and gym routine. SG mentioned during commentary that Gilly was in Dubai last night and is in Mumbai today

[ramshorns]

Afridi sent Razzak instead of him

LOL.

[ramshorns]

Gilly was on India TV just a few seconds ago and was singing praises of MSD and his cool and calm nature.  Looks like Gilly is already there for the IPL and stopped by for the game.

They have all landed for IPL - Warne, Gilly et al.
Warne was tweeting about his arrival in Mumbai and gym routine. SG mentioned during commentary that Gilly was in Dubai last night and is in Mumbai today

Yup.  Can you believe in less than a week we will have the first IPL game.

[cricinfo]

Gilly was on India TV just a few seconds ago and was singing praises of MSD and his cool and calm nature.  Looks like Gilly is already there for the IPL and stopped by for the game.

They have all landed for IPL - Warne, Gilly et al.
Warne was tweeting about his arrival in Mumbai and gym routine. SG mentioned during commentary that Gilly was in Dubai last night and is in Mumbai today

Yup.  Can you believe in less than a week we will have the first IPL game.

I believe they will be emotionally so drained - do not even know if they can perform in IPL!

[Zacked]

I was too young when Kapil lifted the world, so for me Hell Yeah!! Dhoni is the greatest captain ever to have led India!! All Hail the Great Dhoni!! 

[ramshorns]

Gilly was on India TV just a few seconds ago and was singing praises of MSD and his cool and calm nature.  Looks like Gilly is already there for the IPL and stopped by for the game.

They have all landed for IPL - Warne, Gilly et al.
Warne was tweeting about his arrival in Mumbai and gym routine. SG mentioned during commentary that Gilly was in Dubai last night and is in Mumbai today

Yup.  Can you believe in less than a week we will have the first IPL game.

I believe they will be emotionally so drained - do not even know if they can perform in IPL!

For the 15 members of the WC squad nothing tops this no matter what happens in IPL.  The celebrations I am seeing on 3 laptops on three different channels (CNN-IBN, NDTV, India TV) is just out of this world.  WoW.  Wish I was in India just for tonight.

[cricinfo]

Gilly was on India TV just a few seconds ago and was singing praises of MSD and his cool and calm nature.  Looks like Gilly is already there for the IPL and stopped by for the game.

They have all landed for IPL - Warne, Gilly et al.
Warne was tweeting about his arrival in Mumbai and gym routine. SG mentioned during commentary that Gilly was in Dubai last night and is in Mumbai today

Yup.  Can you believe in less than a week we will have the first IPL game.

I believe they will be emotionally so drained - do not even know if they can perform in IPL!

For the 15 members of the WC squad nothing tops this no matter what happens in IPL.  The celebrations I am seeing on 3 laptops on three different channels (CNN-IBN, NDTV, India TV) is just out of this world.  WoW.  Wish I was in India just for tonight.

For the first time in my life i just cant have enough of Indian channels - even Aaj Tak, I am running multiple tabs in computer

[dave_dj]

I was too young when Kapil lifted the world, so for me Hell Yeah!! Dhoni is the greatest captain ever to have led India!! All Hail the Great Dhoni!!

The two wins are so different.  We lost all matches in 1979, even to Sri Lanka and there was no expectation from the 1983 team - a few wins may be against Zimbabwe.  They were almost going out of the tournament but for Kapil.  They won against all odds against a devastatingly superior West Indies team.

This time, we were supposed to win - expectation was set - it was more about dealing with the pressure and expectation, and doing the job like a professional, as they did.

Different stories - same result!!  1983 gave us the belief that we can do too and this one is more like affirmation of who else but us.

[LosingNow]

I was too young when Kapil lifted the world, so for me Hell Yeah!! Dhoni is the greatest captain ever to have led India!! All Hail the Great Dhoni!!

The two wins are so different.  We lost all matches in 1979, even to Sri Lanka and there was no expectation from the 1983 team - a few wins may be against Zimbabwe.  They were almost going out of the tournament but for Kapil.  They won against all odds against a devastatingly superior West Indies team.

This time, we were supposed to win - expectation was set - it was more about dealing with the pressure and expectation, and doing the job like a professional, as they did.

Different stories - same result!!  1983 gave us the belief that we can do too and this one is more like affirmation of who else but us.

Well said..
..but everyone can tell you where they were when we won the 1983 WC.

I saw it in a small TV shop in a town called Kakinada in AP with 20-30 people on a black and white TV. (we missed the Richards dismissal due to break for DD news!)

[suraj]

Gilly was on India TV just a few seconds ago and was singing praises of MSD and his cool and calm nature.  Looks like Gilly is already there for the IPL and stopped by for the game.

They have all landed for IPL - Warne, Gilly et al.
Warne was tweeting about his arrival in Mumbai and gym routine. SG mentioned during commentary that Gilly was in Dubai last night and is in Mumbai today

Yup.  Can you believe in less than a week we will have the first IPL game.

I believe they will be emotionally so drained - do not even know if they can perform in IPL!

For the 15 members of the WC squad nothing tops this no matter what happens in IPL.  The celebrations I am seeing on 3 laptops on three different channels (CNN-IBN, NDTV, India TV) is just out of this world.  WoW.  Wish I was in India just for tonight.

Yeah even your favourite Sonia *hi is also congratulating the public!!!

[RicePlateReddy]

Well said..
..but everyone can tell you where they were when we won the 1983 WC.

I saw it in a small TV shop in a town called Kakinada in AP with 20-30 people on a black and white TV. (we missed the Richards dismissal due to break for DD news!)

I watched and went to a movie once Richards started firing, not wanting to see the demolition. Some die-hards smuggled transistors into the theatre, playing them at an extremely low volume so as to not disturb the others and cheered several times, to the surprise of everyone else (who knew this must be good news). They stopped the movie and put up a slide when 5 wickets were down. And everyone still remained in the theater - can't understand why! Anyways, after the movie, we dashed home and 7 or 8 wickets were down.

I remember that Doordarshan didn't intend to show the entire WI innings but ended up showing it anyway. And everyone waited for the next morning, to read the reports in the 3 and half-newspapers. How times have changed - clearly for the better!

But sorry if I seem like an old fogey - the '83 victory was far far sweeter. It was like Ireland winning the World Cup.

[dextrous]

Gilly was on India TV just a few seconds ago and was singing praises of MSD and his cool and calm nature.  Looks like Gilly is already there for the IPL and stopped by for the game.

he was watching the game. the camera panned to him a couple of times

[LosingNow]

But sorry if I seem like an old fogey - the '83 victory was far far sweeter. It was like Ireland winning the World Cup.

Absolutely!!

[suraj]

Well said..
..but everyone can tell you where they were when we won the 1983 WC.

I saw it in a small TV shop in a town called Kakinada in AP with 20-30 people on a black and white TV. (we missed the Richards dismissal due to break for DD news!)

I watched and went to a movie once Richards started firing, not wanting to see the demolition. Some die-hards smuggled transistors into the theatre, playing them at an extremely low volume so as to not disturb the others and cheered several times, to the surprise of everyone else (who knew this must be good news). They stopped the movie and put up a slide when 5 wickets were down. And everyone still remained in the theater - can't understand why! Anyways, after the movie, we dashed home and 7 or 8 wickets were down.

I remember that Doordarshan didn't intend to show the entire WI innings but ended up showing it anyway. And everyone waited for the next morning, to read the reports in the 3 and half-newspapers. How times have changed - clearly for the better!

But sorry if I seem like an old fogey - the '83 victory was far far sweeter. It was like Ireland winning the World Cup.

We lost power when WI was demolishing India- by the time power came back WI had collapsed & the rest is history

For once I didn't complain about one of the most corrupt Delhi electrical services

[dave_dj]

..but everyone can tell you where they were when we won the 1983 WC.

I saw it in a small TV shop in a town called Kakinada in AP with 20-30 people on a black and white TV. (we missed the Richards dismissal due to break for DD news!)

Watching at home with family and cousins in our EC TV.  As KoP said, when Richard started man-handling, Jyoti Basu helped us with with a power cut, went up to the terrace without a transistor to deal with the situation.  My Dad held on and hung around.  Power came back shortly but my cousins and I did not care to go down to watch - we accepted defeat while my Dad was watching alone.  We heard a loud shout - Dad tried to get us down with the good news but we still did not believe that India could win.  Another wicket warmed us and then we started to watch.

28 years passed but I did not change.  When we lost Tendulkar, I stopped watching.   I called my Dad - he was watching with his friend and confidently told me that we would win as Gambhir and Kohli are great payers and we can bat till Harbhajan.

I guess time passed, but my Dad and I played the same role in both World Cup wins - while distance separated us this time but technology did its bit to keep us connected.

[cricinfo]

..but everyone can tell you where they were when we won the 1983 WC.

I saw it in a small TV shop in a town called Kakinada in AP with 20-30 people on a black and white TV. (we missed the Richards dismissal due to break for DD news!)

Watching at home with family and cousins in our EC TV.  As KoP said, when Richard started man-handling, Jyoti Basu helped us with with a power cut, went up to the terrace without a transistor to deal with the situation.  My Dad held on and hung around.  Power came back shortly but my cousins and I did not care to go down to watch - we accepted defeat while my Dad was watching alone.  We heard a loud shout - Dad tried to get us down with the good news but we still did not believe that India could win.  Another wicket warmed us and then we started to watch.

28 years passed but I did not change.  When we lost Tendulkar, I stopped watching.   I called my Dad - he was watching with his friend and confidently told me that we would win as Gambhir and Kohli are great payers and we can bat till Harbhajan.

I guess time passed, but my Dad and I played the same role in both World Cup wins - while distance separated us this time but technology did its bit to keep us connected.

We bought our EC TV  B&W a few months before the WC,this was in calcutta. After India won , I could hear crackers outside and suddenly i heard a lot of loud crackers. When I came out , I realized some over excited para folks are beating the heck out of the milk booth (Haringhata Milk booths by WB Govt) which used to be made out of tin. Next morning there was no milk because the whole booth was down to the wooden skeleton.

[LosingNow]

..but everyone can tell you where they were when we won the 1983 WC.

I saw it in a small TV shop in a town called Kakinada in AP with 20-30 people on a black and white TV. (we missed the Richards dismissal due to break for DD news!)

Watching at home with family and cousins in our EC TV.  As KoP said, when Richard started man-handling, Jyoti Basu helped us with with a power cut, went up to the terrace without a transistor to deal with the situation.  My Dad held on and hung around.  Power came back shortly but my cousins and I did not care to go down to watch - we accepted defeat while my Dad was watching alone.  We heard a loud shout - Dad tried to get us down with the good news but we still did not believe that India could win.  Another wicket warmed us and then we started to watch.

28 years passed but I did not change.  When we lost Tendulkar, I stopped watching.   I called my Dad - he was watching with his friend and confidently told me that we would win as Gambhir and Kohli are great payers and we can bat till Harbhajan.

I guess time passed, but my Dad and I played the same role in both World Cup wins - while distance separated us this time but technology did its bit to keep us connected.

[LosingNow]

..but everyone can tell you where they were when we won the 1983 WC.

I saw it in a small TV shop in a town called Kakinada in AP with 20-30 people on a black and white TV. (we missed the Richards dismissal due to break for DD news!)

Watching at home with family and cousins in our EC TV.  As KoP said, when Richard started man-handling, Jyoti Basu helped us with with a power cut, went up to the terrace without a transistor to deal with the situation.  My Dad held on and hung around.  Power came back shortly but my cousins and I did not care to go down to watch - we accepted defeat while my Dad was watching alone.  We heard a loud shout - Dad tried to get us down with the good news but we still did not believe that India could win.  Another wicket warmed us and then we started to watch.

28 years passed but I did not change.  When we lost Tendulkar, I stopped watching.   I called my Dad - he was watching with his friend and confidently told me that we would win as Gambhir and Kohli are great payers and we can bat till Harbhajan.

I guess time passed, but my Dad and I played the same role in both World Cup wins - while distance separated us this time but technology did its bit to keep us connected.

We bought our EC TV  B&W a few months before the WC,this was in calcutta. After India won , I could hear crackers outside and suddenly i heard a lot of loud crackers. When I came out , I realized some over excited para folks are beating the heck out of the milk booth (Haringhata Milk booths by WB Govt) which used to be made out of tin. Next morning there was no milk because the whole booth was down to the wooden skeleton.

ha ha ha..

[proloy]

Dhoni has made sure that he gets pride of place alongside the likes of Clive Lloyd, Kapil Dev, Imran Khan, Ricky Ponting, Steve Waugh, Allan Border, and Arjuna Ranatunga. Nobody will be able to question his pedigree after today's innings. It was an immortal innings. Played with steely determination. The entire team rallied around him, and let themselves be counted. Glorious effort. All credit to the captain. And much credit to the little master as well, though he didn't contribute much with the bat today. But looking at the whole tournament, Sachin has played more than his part, with key contributions in the quarters and semis. And not to forget, he is the single biggest motivating factor in the dressing room, and has nurtured all the players. Good to see them repaying the debt.

Hats off Dhoni. A big stage is what separates the grain from the chaff. And you delivered with sterling colors today. Looking at world cup history, whenever a team has won, the captain has played a pivotal role -- right from Imran, to Ponting, to Kapil, to Ranatunga. It was Dhoni who got India the trophy today, leading proverbially from the front. And what stage is bigger?

Dhoni certainly is the best Indian captain by virtue of this performance alone. A captain's innings is what makes a captain. And this one came at the most critical hour.

Some of his decisions as captain are pure gambles. Yoginder Singh bowling the last over would lose the match eight times out of ten. Today's Sreesanth decision partly backfired, because he wasn't in the groove after so much rust. Though that's probably an understandable decision, after the unfortunate Nehra injury (and the previous Praveen Kumar injury, which exhausted options). But promoting himself ahead of Yuvraj was a very pragmatic and correct decision, as much as it was courageous. Yuvraj is Murali's bunny. And a slight misstep there could have tilted things overwhelmingly in Sri Lanka's favor at that time. It helped that Murali was injured and subpar today. Also, Sangakkara wasn't the cleverest opposition captain to have. A Ranatunga would never let India win this match even with the same men.

On hindsight, Sri Lanka were not the side to be world champions, given their poor bowling armor. Other than Malinga and Murali, the rest of the bowling is pedestrian. Sangakkara is a great wicketkeeper-batsman, but not shrewd enough as a captain. Probably Sri Lanka missed a trick by flying in Vaas but not playing him. He is a danger man, and in tandem with Malinga could have been devastating. But nothing can take away from the fact that Dhoni rose to the occasion. And that's the mark of greatness. Gambhir and Kohli played important roles, but finishing a job is an infinitely more difficult task. Dhoni did that. Well done, and hats off to you for the outstanding leadership!

[dextrous]

Dhoni has made sure that he gets pride of place alongside the likes of Clive Lloyd, Kapil Dev, Imran Khan, Ricky Ponting, Steve Waugh, Allan Border, and Arjuna Ranatunga. Nobody will be able to question his pedigree after today's innings. It was an immortal innings. Played with steely determination. The entire team rallied around him, and let themselves be counted. Glorious effort. All credit to the captain. And much credit to the little master as well, though he didn't contribute much with the bat today. But looking at the whole tournament, Sachin has played more than his part, with key contributions in the quarters and semis. And not to forget, he is the single biggest motivating factor in the dressing room, and has nurtured all the players. Good to see them repaying the debt.

Hats off Dhoni. A big stage is what separates the grain from the chaff. And you delivered with sterling colors today. Looking at world cup history, whenever a team has won, the captain has played a pivotal role -- right from Imran, to Ponting, to Kapil, to Ranatunga. It was Dhoni who got India the trophy today, leading proverbially from the front. And what stage is bigger?

Dhoni certainly is the best Indian captain by virtue of this performance alone. A captain's innings is what makes a captain. And this one came at the most critical hour.

Some of his decisions as captain are pure gambles. Yoginder Singh bowling the last over would lose the match eight times out of ten. Today's Sreesanth decision partly backfired, because he wasn't in the groove after so much rust. Though that's probably an understandable decision, after the unfortunate Nehra injury (and the previous Praveen Kumar injury, which exhausted options). But promoting himself ahead of Yuvraj was a very pragmatic and correct decision, as much as it was courageous. Yuvraj is Murali's bunny. And a slight misstep there could have tilted things overwhelmingly in Sri Lanka's favor at that time. It helped that Murali was injured and subpar today. Also, Sangakkara wasn't the cleverest opposition captain to have. A Ranatunga would never let India win this match even with the same men.

On hindsight, Sri Lanka were not the side to be world champions, given their poor bowling armor. Other than Malinga and Murali, the rest of the bowling is pedestrian. Sangakkara is a great wicketkeeper-batsman, but not shrewd enough as a captain. Probably Sri Lanka missed a trick by flying in Vaas but not playing him. He is a danger man, and in tandem with Malinga could have been devastating. But nothing can take away from the fact that Dhoni rose to the occasion. And that's the mark of greatness. Gambhir and Kohli played important roles, but finishing a job is an infinitely more difficult task. Dhoni did that. Well done, and hats off to you for the outstanding leadership!

excellent analysis, 100% agree, esp. about sangakarra. the two sri lankan pacemen keeping vaas out was an outrage.