Paddy Upton Praises Captain MS Dhoni For His Calm Head
Apr 6, 2020 at 11:00 PM
Former Indian Mental Conditioning coach and Strategic Leadership Coach Paddy Upton has recently praised the former Indian World Cup-winning captain MS Dhoni for his calm but strong leadership quality.
Paddy Upton played an important role in MS Dhoni-led Indian team that reached the top spot of the ICC Test team rankings as well as won the ICC Cricket World Cup 2011. Upton was appointed after then Head Coach Gary Kirsten suggested his name. While the Indian team evolved as one of the dominating sides in world cricket at that time, Upton was one of the crucial reasons.
On the other hand, the cricket world knows how strong MS Dhoni as a captain. He is the only captain to win three different ICC trophies as the team won the ICC World T20 2007, ICC Cricket World Cup 2011 and ICC Champions Trophy 2013 under his captaincy. With the time progress, he evolved as one of the greatest captains in international cricket history.
MS Dhoni was a strong, silent type as a leader: Paddy Upton
While India recently celebrated the ninth anniversary of their winning the ICC Cricket World Cup 2011, Upton opened up his thought about the skipper Dhoni on this occasion. He called Dhoni as a strong, silent type leader. Talking about Dhoni’s best point as a captain, Upton mentioned his calm head during the high-pressure moments.
In an interview, Upton told TOI, “Dhoni was a strong, silent type as a leader. He led through his own performances, often taking the team to victory in high-pressure situations with the bat. He also led by showing a calm head and demeanor during high-pressure moments. Dhoni being calm, particularly in these high-pressure moments, along with the coaching staff deliberately being calm and measured, set the tone and example for players to follow.”
In the final of the ICC Cricket World Cup 2011, Dhoni (91*) and Gautam Gambhir (97) played the crucial roles for India’s six-wickets victory against Sri Lanka at Wankhede Stadium (Mumbai). Before the final of that tournament, Dhoni mostly unimpressed with his batting performances in that tournament. However, in the crucial final match, Dhoni not only promoted himself in the batting order ahead of the in-form Yuvraj Singh, but he also played the unforgettable Player of the Match level knock.