MS Dhoni, 2013 Champions Trophy final
Good captaincy is usually about keeping a cool head and making sensible decisions. But occasionally it's about impetuosity and taking completely illogical risks.

During the 2013 Champions Trophy final, MS Dhoni chose the latter route. Rain had turned the match into a T20, which made each ball that much more important. Chasing India's mediocre 129 for 7, England limped to 46 for 4 in nine overs. Then Ravi Bopara and Eoin Morgan took 20 off two wayward Ishant Sharma overs to wrest back the impetus. So it went, until the chase dwindled to 28 needed off 18.

As the tournament reached its denouement, Dhoni took a look around and, to everyone's surprise, brought back Ishant. It looked to be a brain fade when Morgan hit his second ball for six and Ishant responded with two wides. Then, from nothing, Morgan chipped a slower, wider ball straight to midwicket, and Bopara smacked the very next ball to the same fielder at square leg. Fifteen minutes later, India had won by five runs and Dhoni wore a smile as wide as the Lord's pavilion.

Donald Bradman, Australia v England, 1937
If Dhoni's mind was made up in a hot-blooded instant, Sir Donald spent hours cooking up this decision, his mind a simmer of Machiavellian mischievousness.

Two down to the old enemy and facing growing dissent over his leadership, Bradman needed a result in Melbourne. Australia batted first and reached 181 for 6 before the heavens opened. The following day, the uncovered pitch behaved appallingly. Australia lost their last four wickets cheaply.

Tayls never fails: Mark and the lads celebrate the series win at the end of the 1997 Ashes © Getty Images

England fared worse, much to the horror of Bradman, who realised he would be out batting again far too soon. He pulled his fielders back to the boundary, but to no avail. Less than 30 overs later, England declared on 76 for 9 and Australia were batting again, on a pitch that remained unpredictable.

Bradman's solution? Turn the batting order upside down. His bowlers survived through the end of the second day, the pitch dried out over the rest day, and when the captain strode out at seven, he shared a stand of 346 with Jack Fingleton. Australia won by 365 runs, and took the series 3-2.

Mark Taylor, England v Australia, 1997
Bradman's detractors berated him for hiding down the order. Sixty years later, no such accusations were levelled at another Aussie captain, Mark Taylor.

Before the Ashes, Taylor's captaincy was in jeopardy, thanks to a terrible run of form and an English whitewash in the preceding ODIs. He made a brave century in defeat in the first Test, but failed in both his other innings. Arriving for the third game, at Old Trafford, Australia were 1-0 down and the Manchester pitch green and soggy.

As an out-of-touch opener, Taylor must have been sorely tempted to stick England in when he won the toss. Instead, he knew the hosts would struggle against Shane Warne in the fourth innings. He chose to bat, was immediately hit on the head by debutant Dean Headley, and then departed for 2.

He lasted just three balls in the second innings as his personal torment continued, but twin centuries from Steve Waugh and nine wickets for Warne led Australia to a comfortable win, and some sort of personal redemption for the captain.

Mr Golden Arm: Clarke takes a wicket later in the series, in Roseau © AFP

Michael Clarke, West Indies v Australia, 2012
Momentum. The big mo. One of the least understood phenomena in sport, so easy to lose and so difficult to win back. Michael Clarke knew this. His first year in charge of a transitional Australian side saw him rack up a string of stellar individual scores, but against West Indies his flair for captaincy came to the fore.

For the first half of the first Test, the hosts were dominant, putting on 449 and reducing Australia to 285 for 8. Then the visitors' tail began to wag, and Ryan Harris and Nathan Lyon were galloping towards parity, before the captain suddenly called them in, with Australia still 43 behind.

Yet Clarke sensed that the tide in the match was turning, and judged that quick wickets were more valuable than a small lead. And so it proved: Ben Hilfenhaus took three in six balls and West Indies were sunk.

Michael Vaughan, England v Australia, 2005
Woe betide any captain who believes his work begins when sides take the field. The bedrock of England's bewildering, stars-are-aligned Ashes win of 2005 were the bowling plans set up by Michael Vaughan and Duncan Fletcher for the Australian top order.

Vaughan: not half-bad before he took to Twitter © Getty Images

And at Edgbaston, the finest Test of cricket's best series, England struck a mortal blow. Matthew Hayden, Australia's hard-driving bully, never recovered from being snared in one of Vaughan's traps.

England had responded to a heavy defeat at Lord's by bludgeoning Australia's Glenn McGrath-less attack for 407 in less than 80 overs. Then, as they strode out to field, Vaughan reminded Andrew Strauss to field at an unorthodox short extra cover position to dissuade Hayden from driving. Facing his first ball from Matthew Hoggard, fullish and wide, Hayden found he couldn't resist and the ball flew unerringly into Strauss' hands. The rest was history and MBEs.

Mike Jakeman is the author of Saving the Test @mikejakeman

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