After a shocking group stage exit from the 2007 ODI World Cup, the Indian team management was looking to make major changes in the team. With the inaugural edition of the 2007 T20 World Cup about to start in a few months, many big players of the Indian team including the likes of Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid, Sourav Ganguly and others withdrew from the shortest format of the game. After that, the BCCI decided to send a young Indian squad for the 2007 T20 World Cup with young wicketkeeper-batter MS Dhoni getting appointed as a captain for the first time.
Coming in as underdogs, India stunned everyone and went on to become the first-ever champions of the T20 World Cup under MS Dhoni's captaincy. However, in between the tournament, a day before India’s fixture against England in Durban, BCCI announced squads for home ODI series against Australia and Pakistan respectively, where Dhoni was also given the opportunity to lead Men in Blue in the 50-over format. India were scheduled to play 12 ODI matches with seven against Australia and five against Pakistan.
MS Dhoni captaincy records
MS Dhoni proved himself to be a great captain when he led India to the T20 World Cup title. Now, the next challenge was in ODIs against Australia and Pakistan respectively. Coming as a T20 World Cup winning captain, Dhoni couldn't continue his winning momentum in his first ODI series as a skipper as India lost the seven-match series by 2-4 margin. However, India came out victorious in the one-off T20I against Australia. MS Dhoni didn’t have to wait more for his first ODI series win as a skipper as he led India to 3-2 win in the next five-match series against Pakistan in November 2007.
This was just the beginning of India title triumphs under MS Dhoni's captaincy. The wicketkeeper-batter went on to become the greatest captain of the Indian cricket team. As a captain, Dhoni led India to the T20 World Cup title in 2007 on his first stint. Talking about his ODI captaincy, MS Dhoni led India to the ODI World Cup title in 2011, and the Champions Trophy title in 2013.
