However, former Team India fielding coach R Sridhar recounted an incident in which an enraged MS Dhoni slammed his teammates after winning an ODI and threatened them with exclusion from the World Cup squad unless they improved their fitness levels. Sridhar wrote about the incident in Delhi after India defeated the West Indies in 2014 in his book Coaching Beyond.
The following year, India had to travel to Australia to defend their World Cup title, and Dhoni was not pleased with his teammates’ poor fielding in that match in Delhi, and he gave them an earful before issuing a strong warning.
In the dressing room, he (Dhoni) ripped the team to shreds and gave them an ultimatum, making it clear that if they didn’t meet certain standards in fielding and fitness, they would not make the World Cup cut, no matter what name they answer to. That demonstrated the type of fielding culture he wished to instill in white-ball cricket, Sridhar wrote in his book.
It was unusual to see Dhoni lose his cool in that manner, but Team India needed that reprimand because there was a clear drop in fitness standards and players were not putting in the necessary effort.
India lost in the semi-finals to Australia, who went on to win the World Cup by defeating New Zealand in the final.
Dhoni’s warning worked its magic, as India reached the World Cup semi-finals despite not having the strongest squad.
