He is considered the man with the Midas' touch.
Having guided Team India to a surprise win in the Twenty20 World Cup in his debut assignment last September, he followed it up with a superlative triumph in the recently concluded Commonwealth Bank series - where India under his leadership upset world champions Australia in two consecutive finals.
Forced to assume the captaincy mantle in the five-day version - owing to a recurring groin injury to incumbent Anil Kumble - and with the team going into the match with a 0-1 deficit and a demoralising defeat, Mahendra Singh Dhoni rose to the occasion. And how?
The young leader, on debut, handled his players rather effectively; made good tactical decisions and ensured optimum utilisation of the given resources to secure a series-equalling win at the Green Park on Sunday. The win also meant a successful start to Dhoni's career as a Test captain. However, the 26-year-old was quick to undermine his achievement.
"It was one of those days when everything we did went off quite well," said Dhoni, rather modestly. "It is really hard to replace Anil (Kumble), not only as a captain but also as a player, but the guys rose to the occasion." However, he was quick to admit that captaining a Test side isn't as difficult as it is made out to be.
India win third Test, square series 1-1
"Every form of cricket has different requirements. But in Test matches you don't really have to trust your instincts (as he usually does in the shorter versions) because you have enough time on hand to do things.
"But this was quite easy because everything worked well for me and on a wicket like this it does become a bit easier as opposed to playing on a flat track," he reasoned.
While he was much appreciated for making those frequent bowling changes that went a long way in unsettling the South African batting line-up in the second innings, Dhoni gave the entire credit to the bowlers.
"Whatever bowling change we did, we got eight or nine wickets in return. All the credit goes to the bowlers who bowled so well in such conditions," he said. "Even the part-timers bowled really well and put pressure on them." Having praised the bowlers, the captain had a word of appreciation for the batsmen as well.
"Most of the things depended on the first innings. The 60-run lead was crucial because after that we could really play the mind game," Dhoni said. "Every partnership was important and the way in which Sourav (in particular) batted was really credible."
Now that he had tasted blood in his very first Test, Dhoni refused to blame the wicket at Green Park, one that has been criticised as under prepared from day one, as partly responsible for the South African defeat.
"It is not about the wicket you are playing on. When you go to Australia you get bouncy tracks, in England the ball usually swings and in New Zealand, it is all about the seam movement," explained Dhoni.
"In India we have tracks like these and we should stick to it." And considering he is going through an excellent period - and producing positive results as well - there is no option but to agree with him. After all, a win speaks volumes and a winner is entitled to make his statements.
