Top 3 Test wins under MS Dhoni’s captaincy

MS Dhoni has been one of the most successful Test Captains of India. Despite his poor record in overseas tours, he took India to the top of the rankings table during his tenure. He led the first Indian team to win a Test series in New Zealand. Although, he has 27 victories from 60 games he captained, here is a list of the top 3 victories India registered under his tenure.

3. India vs Australia, Chennai 2013

MS Dhoni has been a phenomenal captain in limited over formats. Although his captaincy records in Tests are not so good he has given India some crucial victories. In 2013, Australia was on a Tour of India. A team that was going through a transition in the longest format of the game was playing against mighty Aussies.

In the first Test of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2013, India locked horns with Australia at the M Chidambaram stadium in Chennai. After batting first Visitors posted a hefty total of India 380/10. Michael Clarke was the top scorer for them as he hammered a brilliant century by scoring 130 runs off 246 balls. In response, India got a very poor start as they lost two wickets for just 12 runs.

In the crunch situation, Skipper MS Dhoni came ahead to rescue India as he scored a well-made double century. He hammered 224 runs off 265 balls with the help of 24 boundaries and six maximums. India posted 572 runs in the first innings taking a hefty lead of 192 runs in the first innings. In the second innings, the Australian team failed to handle the spin trio of Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin and Harbhajan Singh. They posted just 241 runs giving India an easy win. This win boosted India’s confidence as they cleanly sweep the Aussies in the same series.

2. India vs England, Lord’s Test 2014

In 2014 India was touring England for a five-match Test series under the leadership of MS Dhoni. In the second Test of the series, India shocked its hosts by handing them an unexpected defeat at the Lord’s cricket ground. In the first innings after batting first India scored 295 runs. Star batter Ajinkya Rahane scored a magnificent century helping the team to register a competitive total.

In response, England batted well and took 24 run lead in the first innings. They posted 319 runs in the first innings as Bhuvneshwar Kumar took six wickets in the innings. Indian openers Murali Vijay and Ravindra Jadeja batted brilliantly in the second innings, as India scored 342 runs. Vijay scored 95 runs while Jadeja batted brilliantly for 68 runs. India set the hosts a target of 319 runs to win.

This was difficult to achieve in the fourth inning for any team and England also succumbed to it. The Indian bowlers once again outdid themselves against England. India won the match by 95 runs after bowling England out for 223 runs. Returning to the Indian team, Ishant Sharma produced the finest performance of his career, bagging 7 wickets. He was also named Man of the Match for his outstanding effort during the game.

1. India vs New Zealand, Napier 2009

It was MS Dhoni’s first task in a foreign land as he led a team full of legends in the New Zealand series. Sachin Tendulkar’s 160 and a team effort from the bowlers led India to a 10-wicket victory in the first Test of the 2009 series at Hamilton. In the second game, Kiwi skipper Daniel Vettori won the toss and opted to bat first at McLean Park in Napier.

The Blackcaps were restricted at 23/3 as Indian pacers made early strikes. Although an amazing partnership from Ross Taylor (151) and Jesse Ryder (201) saved the day for the hosts and dominated the bowlers. New Zealand declared their innings for 619/9 as Brendon McCullum also scored a century. In response, India failed to hold its nerves and got out for 305 runs.

Having two days in hand Kiwis called India to follow on. The second innings of India witnessed a Masterclass from Gautam Gambhir who not only hammered a century but also held an end to outplay the chances of India’s defeat. Gambhir in his innings scored 137 runs off 436 balls but this was the third and second most important number in his innings. In his record-breaking innings, Gambhir batted for more than 10 hours frustrating all Kiwi bowlers like hell.

To save the Test match Gambhir added 133 runs with Rahul Dravid, 97 runs with Sachin Tendulkar, and 96 runs with VVS Laxman in two days. In the game, Laxman also scored a century on the last day and added 120 runs with Yuvraj Singh to draw the game.