NEW DELHI: Former India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni was the epitome of calmness under pressure. Time and again MSD displayed this incredibly consistent trait of his on the cricket field.
The last time India and Bangladesh faced each other in the T20 World Cup, it was again Dhoni's calmness and his incredible presence of mind that helped the Men in Blue snatch victory from the jaws of defeat, beating the Bangla Tigers by 1 run in a thriller of a contest in Bengaluru in 2016.
With India set to face Bangladesh in the ongoing T20 World Cup clash in Adelaide on Wednesday, the thrilling 2016 T20 World Cup clash between the two countries is of course part of every India-Bangladesh conversation currently.
WATCH HOW DHONI WON INDIA THE MATCH VS BANGLADESH IN THE 2016 T20 WORLD CUP HERE:
Jasprit Bumrah conceded 6 runs in the penultimate over, which left Bangladesh needing 11 runs to win in the last over.
The tension was clearly visible on the Indian players' faces, but a cool-headed Dhoni threw the ball to Hardik Pandya for the last over. Four players (Dhoni, Pandya, Ashish Nehra and Rohit Sharma) chatted for some time and then Dhoni gave a solid pat on Pandya's back and asked him to go for it. The onus was on Pandya to stop the Bangladesh batters from getting those required 11 runs, with the dangerous Mahmadullah and Mushfiqur Rahim on strike, in front of a roaring Bengaluru crowd.
20th over:
Ball 1: Mahmudullah steered Pandya towards sweeper cover and took 1 run, bringing the equation to 9 off 5 balls.
Balls 2 & 3: Mushfiqur Rahim then smashed Pandya for back-to-back boundaries, first towards extra cover and then fine leg, to put Bangladesh in command. Bangladesh needed two runs in three balls now. 1 run to tie the match.
Dhoni immediately rushed towards Pandya and had a serious talk with the all-rounder. And Pandya didn't disappoint the skipper this time.
Balls 4 & 5: Pandya removed Mushfiqur (11) and Mahmudullah (18) in quick succession, bringing down the equation to 2 needed off 1.
Dhoni once again had a mini meeting with Pandya. This time, Virat Kohli, Yuvraj Singh and Nehra too joined the discussion. Nehra was seen doing most of the talking.
Reuters Photo
Dhoni walked back, looked around and signalled Pandya to bowl outside off. Dhoni removed his right glove and was ready for the last hunt. Shuvagata Hom gave the delivery bowled wide outside the off stump an almighty heave, but couldn't connect.
An alert Dhoni collected the ball with his glove-less right hand, but did not throw. As the Bangladesh batters ran to collect a bye which would have tied the match, the extremely fit MSD sprinted up to the stumps and whipped off the bails. Mustafizur Rahman, who was running to the batting end was run out thanks to Dhoni's presence of mind and on-field brilliance. He had helped India snatch a 1 run win from the jaws of defeat.
India won the thrilling contest by 1 run.
Overall, India have won ten T20I matches out of eleven contested against Bangladesh, including the first eight between June 6, 2009 and March 18, 2018.
India have won all three of their T20 World Cup fixtures vs Bangladesh so far - by 25 runs at Nottingham on June 6, 2009; by 8 wickets at Mirpur on March 28, 2014 and by 1 run at Bengaluru on March 23, 2016.
