'Captain cool' Dhoni and his midas touch

"Dhoni, captain cool" -- the placard held by an Indian fan appropriately sums up the magic of India's cricket captain.
"I don't turn up in the ground to achieve anything special as a captain," Dhoni said last night after his team had defended a modest 129 to defeat England and win the Champions Trophy.
These modest words may seem out of place for India's most successful cricket captain in all formats of the game -- Tests, ODIs and T20s.
"For me winning the game is very important and that is of utmost importance for us as a team," Dhoni said.

For the 31-year-old Dhoni, winning the Champions Trophy completed a remarkable cycle of triumphs which started with the T20 World Cup in 2007. India also won the 2011 ODI World Cup under his leadership and the victory yesterday reaffirmed his status as India's best-ever captain. No other captain in international cricket has won three major ICC trophies.
The British media also doffed their hats at the "pragmatic, ineffably calm captain" and highlighted his leadership qualities which ultimately gave India a thrilling five-run victory in the rain-hit final.

"India could hardly believe what was happening, though for MS Dhoni, their pragmatic, ineffably calm captain it was probably a normal day at the office. He had put the squeeze on England at the start and he has been round long enough to know that anything can happen in short-form cricket and often does," the 'Independent' said.

The 'Daily Telegraph' described Dhoni's decision to bowl the last two overs with spinners as a "masterstroke".
"... Completely confounding tradition, the last two overs were entrusted by MS Dhoni to spinners. Spin has been one of the surprising successes of the shortest form of the game, and Dhoni's choice was a master stroke," the paper wrote.
The 'Daily Mirror' was also effusive in its praise of the Indian captain who "marshalled his field and his bowlers like an all-knowing general".