Dhoni's Helicopter Shot: The Thappad Move That Won India the World Cup
Dhoni didn't find the Helicopter Shot in any SOP. He learned it from Santosh Lal, called it the 'Thappad Shot', and hit the winning six with it in 2011. Day 28.
{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"Article","headline":"Dhoni's Helicopter Shot: The Thappad Move That Won India the World Cup","description":"MS Dhoni learned the Helicopter Shot from Santosh Lal as the Thappad Shot — not from any manual. Day 28 of Cricket to Corporate: out-of-box problem solving for Indian professionals.","image":"https://supabase-proxy.avinashchate-abc.workers.dev/storage/v1/object/public/blog-images/gallery/avinash-chate-team-building-expert-1773250712679.webp","keywords":"MS Dhoni Helicopter Shot leadership, Thappad Shot Santosh Lal, out-of-box thinking corporate India, cricket to corporate leadership India, innovative problem solving India, Dhoni leadership lessons 2026, creative thinking workplace India","articleSection":"Motivation, Leadership","author":{"@type":"Person","name":"Avinash Chate","jobTitle":"Founder & Director, The Future Corporate","sameAs":["https://www.linkedin.com/in/avinashchate","https://www.youtube.com/@AvinashChate"]},"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Avinash Chate","url":"https://avinashchate.com"},"datePublished":"2026-05-23 21:58:04.547526+00","dateModified":"2026-05-23 21:58:04.547526+00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://avinashchate.com/blog/s/dhoni-s-helicopter-shot-the-thappad-move-that-won-india-1779573485"}} {"@type": "FAQPage", "@context": "https://schema.org", "mainEntity": [{"name": "What is the origin of MS Dhoni's Helicopter Shot and what was it originally called?", "@type": "Question", "acceptedAnswer": {"text": "MS Dhoni's Helicopter Shot was originally called the 'Thappad Shot' and was taught to him by Santosh Lal, a former Jharkhand cricketer and Dhoni's friend. Dhoni did not learn this shot from a coaching academy or international specialist — he learned it through a personal relationship with someone in his local cricketing environment. He adapted the shot specifically to deal with yorker deliveries in death overs, which standard batting techniques handle poorly. The shot became famous worldwide when Dhoni used it to hit the winning six in the 2011 ICC World Cup final against Sri Lanka at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai.", "@type": "Answer"}}, {"name": "What is the corporate leadership lesson from Dhoni's Helicopter Shot?", "@type": "Question", "acceptedAnswer": {"text": "The core corporate leadership lesson from Dhoni's Helicopter Shot is that the most impactful solutions to complex problems often come from outside the standard playbook. Dhoni identified a specific problem — scoring off yorkers in death overs — acknowledged that existing techniques were inadequate, sourced a novel solution from an unexpected place, adapted it to his specific context through extensive practice, and deployed it at the highest-stakes moment in Indian cricket. For corporate leaders, this means actively seeking solutions from unexpected sources, creating safe environments to test non-standard approaches, and developing your team's unique problem-solving capability r…
← Back to all articles · Book Avinash Chate
By Avinash Chate — Maharashtra’s #1 Corporate Trainer & Motivational Speaker. Published 2026-05-23.