Dhoni & Joginder Sharma – 2007 T20 World Cup Final

    MS Dhoni handed the last over of the 2007 T20 World Cup final to Joginder Sharma over far more experienced bowlers. What that one decision teaches every leader about self-confidence, trust, and holding your nerve when the whole team is watching.

    Dhoni & Joginder Sharma – 2007 T20 World Cup Final

    Dhoni & Joginder Sharma – 2007 T20 World Cup Final

    One over. Thirteen runs. A World Cup final. And MS Dhoni handed the ball not to his most experienced bowler, but to Joginder Sharma — a man who had barely played international cricket. What followed in those six deliveries is one of the clearest, most public demonstrations of self-confidence I have ever studied, and I use it in almost every leadership session I run.

    In short

    Where this sits on your Winning Kite

    Self-confidence is the third trait under Self-Awareness, one of the five clusters that make up the EQ — the left side — of your Winning Kite (KITE Leadership Framework). EQ alone doesn't fly a kite; it needs RQ (how you handle people) and PQ (how you get things done) on the other sides to lift Success at the top. But without self-confidence anchoring the EQ side, a leader freezes exactly when a team needs them to move — which is precisely what almost happened, and didn't, on that July night in 2007.

    The Situation: One Over From a Trophy

    It was the final of the inaugural ICC World Twenty20 in 2007, India versus Pakistan — the fixture that stops the subcontinent. The match had gone right down to the wire. Pakistan needed 13 runs off the last over to win the World Cup. Thirteen runs in six balls is gettable, especially with a set batsman on strike and a bowling attack under pressure to defend a low target with almost no margin for error.

    India had bowlers with far more international experience sitting in that squad. Yet Dhoni, in only his first assignment as full-time captain in a global final, chose Joginder Sharma — a medium-pacer who had played only a handful of international matches and was not considered a frontline death-over specialist. It was, on the face of it, an unconventional call. Commentators, fans, and even some players inside the dressing room would have had questions. But Dhoni had seen something in Joginder in training and in domestic cricket that gave him conviction. That conviction is the beginning of self-confidence — not blind hope, but a judgment you trust enough to act on, even when it isn't the obvious or popular choice.

    The Over That Tested Everything

    The first ball Joginder bowled was a wide. In a chase where every run mattered, gifting Pakistan an extra delivery and an extra run was about as bad an opening as you could script. The tension in the stadium — and in front of televisions across India and Pakistan — went up several notches.

    Then, on the next legal delivery, Misbah-ul-Haq — calm, experienced, exactly the kind of batsman you fear in a run chase — smashed Joginder for a six. In a matter of moments, the equation had swung dramatically in Pakistan's favour. Any captain, at that point, could reasonably have started second-guessing himself. Should he pull Joginder out of the attack immediately? Should he have made a different choice in the first place? The pressure to react, to visibly “do something,” is enormous in that situation — every fielder, every fan, every camera is asking the same question: what now?

    Dhoni did nothing dramatic. He stayed calm. He did not walk up and change the field in a panic, did not signal doubt to his bowler, and — most importantly — did not reverse his decision. He trusted the plan he had built and the bowler he had chosen, even in the very over where that trust had just been tested and, on the surface, found wanting.

    The Ball That Decided a World Cup

    On the next delivery, Misbah-ul-Haq attempted an audacious scoop shot — a stroke that, if it had come off, would very likely have won Pakistan the match and the title. Instead, the ball ballooned off the bat and was caught by Sreesanth at short fine leg. In that single moment, the World Cup swung to India. Joginder Sharma, the bowler many had questioned minutes earlier, was now a national hero. And Dhoni's decision — the one that had looked shaky for exactly two deliveries — was etched into cricketing history as one of the boldest captaincy calls India has ever seen.

    What This Really Teaches About Self-Confidence

    I want to be precise about what this story is actually demonstrating, because it's easy to reduce it to “trust your gut” and miss the real lesson. Self-confidence, as I define it for the leaders I train, isn't the feeling you have before you make a decision. It's what you do in the ninety seconds after the decision starts to look wrong.

    Dhoni's self-assurance in that over wasn't just about picking Joginder Sharma in the first place — plenty of captains make bold picks. It was about backing that bowler when the wide went down, and again when the six went out of the ground. He could easily have second-guessed himself, pulled Joginder from the attack, or visibly shown panic that would have rippled through the fielders and rattled the bowler even further. He chose instead to trust his own judgment and his player's capability, all the way to the last ball.

    This is exactly what separates self-confidence from stubbornness or arrogance. Self-confidence is not refusing to adapt — it's holding your nerve on a decision you've already thought through, instead of flinching the moment the scoreboard gets uncomfortable. A leader who reverses every decision at the first sign of trouble teaches their team that nothing is stable. A leader who never adapts, no matter the evidence, teaches their team that feedback doesn't matter. Dhoni's calm in that over sits in the narrow, valuable space between the two.

    The Double-Edged Sword — Why Balance Matters

    In the book, right alongside this story, I write about Shrinath, an operations manager who joined my company and was, at first, seen as hardworking and personable. But his self-confidence tipped into overconfidence. He believed his own ideas were always correct, took on tasks beyond his abilities, and rarely listened to his team's opinions or suggestions. Over time, his colleagues felt ignored and unappreciated, arguments and misunderstandings piled up, and morale dropped. Even though his CEO liked him initially, the rest of the team lost faith in his leadership. When promotions were considered, Shrinath was overlooked — his overconfidence, not his effort, had held him back. He carried the same pattern into his next job and struggled there too, because he never learned to separate confidence from closed-mindedness.

    Dhoni's over shows you the version of self-confidence that works: conviction paired with composure, and a decision backed all the way through — but one made with genuine judgment about Joginder's ability, not stubborn ego. Shrinath shows you the version that fails: confidence that has stopped listening to anyone else. The difference between the two is not the size of the belief. It's whether that belief still has room in it for other people's input and for reality when it pushes back.

    Self-Confidence at Work: Where You'll Feel This Same Pressure

    You don't need a World Cup final to face this exact test. It shows up constantly in Indian workplaces, in smaller but no less real versions:

    The Auditor Under Pressure

    Imagine you're an auditor and a client's senior manager wants you to overlook certain discrepancies. They may pressure you, offer incentives, or hint at consequences if you don't comply. Without self-confidence, fear can push you to compromise your ethics. With it, you trust your skills and your judgment enough to stand firm and make an unbiased call — even when someone senior is actively trying to sway you.

    The Sales Professional in the Room

    In corporate sales, self-confidence is often the difference between closing a big deal and walking away empty-handed. You have to approach new clients, speak in high-stakes pitch meetings, and handle rejection regularly. Without confidence, you avoid the hard conversations or present half-heartedly. With it, you take the initiative, present your ideas with clarity, handle objections without flinching, and close more deals — the same steadiness Dhoni showed after the six, just in a boardroom instead of a stadium.

    The Manager Who Backs Their Call

    Every manager eventually makes a call that looks wrong for a few uncomfortable minutes — a project assignment, a hire, a pricing decision. The instinct to reverse course the moment it wobbles is strong. The Dhoni lesson is this: if you thought it through properly the first time, give your decision — and your people — the chance to play out the over, instead of pulling them off mid-ball.

    Self-Confidence as a Habit, Not a Trait You're Born With

    From my perspective as a public speaker and trainer who has spent years in front of rooms where the pressure is very real, I'll say this plainly: self-confidence is a habit, not an inborn gift. You build it the same way Dhoni built the trust that let him back Joginder Sharma — through repeated small decisions where you choose to trust your preparation instead of your fear. Psychologists call this “self-efficacy” — a positive, grounded judgment of your own abilities and performance. It isn't about being right every time. It's about believing you can handle what comes, take on challenges regardless of the outcome, and keep improving because of that belief rather than in spite of it. This idea echoes what Daniel Goleman describes in his work on emotional intelligence — that self-confidence, built on real self-awareness, is one of the clearest markers of people who lead well under pressure.

    A confident leader's steadiness cascades. When Dhoni stayed calm after the six, his fielders stayed sharp. When a leader in your office panics after one setback, the whole team feels it within minutes. If leaders lack faith in themselves, that absence doesn't stay contained — it spreads through morale and performance faster than almost anything else in a team.

    Bringing It Back to Your Team

    I train leaders across the Indian Army, BRO, RBI, BARC, JSW Steel and dozens of corporates on exactly this trait, because self-confidence shows up in every high-stakes decision a manager makes — who to trust with the difficult client, whether to back a junior colleague's idea in front of senior leadership, whether to hold your position in a negotiation. Explore how I build this into Signature Corporate Training Programs, or see the full trait map in All Corporate Training Topics. And if you want to understand where self-confidence sits alongside the other 24 traits that make up EQ, RQ and PQ, the Winning Kite (KITE Leadership Framework) lays out the whole picture.

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    Avinash Chate

    TEDx Speaker · Founder, The Future Corporate · Author of Stars at India Inc.

    Avinash has trained the Indian Army, BRO, RBI, BARC, JSW Steel and 1000+ corporate leaders across India. His work focuses on leadership, emotional intelligence and behavioural training rooted in Indian values and modern business needs.

    Frequently Asked Questions

    Why did Dhoni give the last over of the 2007 T20 World Cup final to Joginder Sharma?

    MS Dhoni backed his own judgment of Joginder Sharma's ability under pressure over the obvious, more experienced choices in the squad. It was a calculated call built on self-belief, not a gamble made in panic.

    What happened in the final over between Joginder Sharma and Misbah-ul-Haq?

    Joginder Sharma bowled a wide first, then was hit for a six by Misbah-ul-Haq off the next legal ball, leaving Pakistan needing very little to win. On the following delivery, Misbah attempted a scoop shot and was caught by Sreesanth at short fine leg, handing India the win.

    What does this story teach about self-confidence in leadership?

    It shows that self-confidence isn't just believing in yourself — it's backing your decisions and your people even after they falter, without panicking or reversing course under pressure.

    Where does self-confidence fit on the Winning Kite (KITE Leadership Framework)?

    Self-confidence is a core trait of Self-Awareness, one of the five clusters on the EQ (left) side of the Winning Kite. It works together with RQ and PQ to hold up Success at the top of the kite.

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