Dale Carnegie would have been proud of Dhoni's match-winning approach

 By K.R. Nayar

Chennai Super Kings win over Mumbai Indians is an example of how to win Twenty20 matches through focus as guided by Captain Cool Dhoni. Read my match analysis in full that appeared in Gulf News on match one of the IPL

Dale Carnegie, author of some of the popular self-improvement books like 'How to Win Friends and Influence People' as well as 'How to Stop Worrying and Start Living' would have been delighted to watch Chennai Super Kings' victory over Mumbai Indians. It was an example of how to start off by conquering challenges and following the basic rules of this format of the game. This match is also an illustration of how Mahendra Singh Dhoni, as a captain, could inspire everyone in the team to focus on victory.

Chennai Super Kings had 12 of their staff members and one player tested positive for Coronavirus soon after their arrival in UAE. They saw their star performer Suresh Raina rush back home and then their experienced bowler Harbhajan Singh opting not to come and play in the IPL. For such a team, to stop worrying and focus on winning, and beat the defending champion in their first match, is amazing. It was another display of Dhoni’s captaincy that had elevated India to glory in world cricket.

Dhoni, hailed as Captain Cool, wasn’t perturbed about Mumbai’s good start from rival captain Rohit Sharma and Quinton De Kock when they had put on 46 runs in 4.3 overs. He placed his fieldsmen with accuracy and studied the wicket well to have ‘Hitman’ Sharma land up hitting straight to mid-off. Then his team converted tough chances into catches as shown by Faf Du Plessis at the boundary line. Slowly, but surely, he plotted Mumbai’s collapse from 86 for 2 to 162 for 9 taking catches behind the wicket and forcing many to wonder why did he had retired from international cricket. Mumbai, instead of piling up runs, they sped up their fall of wickets after a good start.

Chennai did not get a good start and lost two wickets in the first two overs, but they did not panic. A determined Ambati Rayudu, who believes that Indian selectors have always ignored his skills, displayed his wide repertoire of shots along with Faf Du Plessis. Together they put on a 115 runs partnership with both getting half-centuries. Mumbai failed to convert their tough chances into catches, and to add to their misery, Jasprit Bumrah and Trent Boult let go off two easy boundaries. Chennai still needed five runs from the last over and had Mumbai Indians fielded tight, the result would have ended Mumbai’s jinx of losing their opening match for the eighth time. When quick runs were needed, Dhoni sent in 22-year-old Sam Curran. Many would have questioned his logic behind that move. But left-handed Curran hit 18 runs in five balls as his captain had expected of him to counter the left-arm bowling at that stage and tilted the match in his team’s favour.

Chennai walked away as winners, showing everyone how not to worry about external happenings, how not to get intimidated by a good start from the opposition, or not crack under the pressure of losing early wickets, and start winning matches.