Former CSK spinner reveals how MS Dhoni’s tactics won Chennai their maiden IPL title

In Indian Prremier League (IPL) 2010 final when Chennai Super Kings (CSK) still weren’t as unbeatable as they are now and Mumbai Indians were far from being the most successful side in the tournament. MS Dhoni, the CSK skipper, planned the dismissal of Sachin Tendulkar, the MI skipper in order to turn the tide of the match.

Ten years behind the final at Mumbai’s Wankhede Stadium, former CSK player Shadab Jakati divulged how MSD’s strategies won CSK their first ever IPL crown.

Spinner Jakati was one of the main players for MS Dhoni in that particular edition. He used the spinner mostly in the first ten overs throughout the tournament. However, in the final, MS Dhoni reserved the left-arm bowler keeping Mumbai’s right handed batsmen.

“I had gone for 21 runs in my first two overs,” Jakati recalls. “With left-hander Abhishek Nayar batting, Dhoni told me I’d now bowl in the middle overs, keeping me for the right-handers – Sachin Tendulkar, Ambati Rayudu and Kieron Pollard. We had done our homework against MI’s right-handers, who were potentially weak against left-arm spinners,” Jakati told Wisden India.

Chasing down the target of 169 for win Mumbai were on track with their skipper Sachin Tendulkar when the tables turned in the 15th over. With Mumbai needing 74 of the last over, the ouns was Tendulkar to go for the big shots. Dhoni knew this and handed the ball to Jakati who would turn it away from the master blaster, forcing him to play against the spin.

Sachin hit the first delivery for a boundary but in the next ball, his mishit went straight to the long off fielder’s hand.

After three deliveries Jakati picked up the wicket of Saurabh Tiwari to bring CSK on top.

It was thhe same match where MS Dhoni plotted Pollard’s dismissal, who was on his way to take the game away from Chennai.

“In that particular match, he got Pollard out placing [Matthew] Hayden right behind the bowler. He did quite a few things. He used to know which bowler to bring on at what time. Basically, he was a captain who knew how to get the best out of the players at the right time,” Jakati said.

CSK, in the end, won the match by 22 runs to lift their first ever IPL trophy.

Jakati, who scalped 48 wickets in four seasons for CSK between 2009 and 2012, extolled MS Dhoni for his instincts.

“He never attended any bowlers’ meeting,” says Jakati. “[That’s] purely because he backs his own instincts and gut feeling at that particular time of the match. He gave us freedom to choose our fields, and if it didn’t work, he’d use his brains. But the first preference was us,” Jakati added.

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