Dhoni: Playing on His Terms

The moment becomes closer for Mahendra Singh Dhoni to call it a day. It will not come across as a shocker to most of us but it definitely is the end of childhood for a majority of cricket fans in India, especially the ones born in the 1990s.

I am not going to talk about statistics or analyze Dhoni’s performance in recent times. His record speaks for itself. This article is dedicated to the man who gave his everything for Indian cricket and never asked for anything in return.

Visionaries from the East

Cricket in India used to be mostly dominated by the West. There were players from the South and the North as well but the Eastern part of the country, i.e., Bengal, Bihar, Jharkhand, Odisha, Assam, etc., did not have many players in the national team.

The first person to make a significant name in the international level was the visionary, Sourav Ganguly, not only helped to build a new age team but taught India how to win matches abroad. The second person who took Ganguly’s legacy to the highest level was our unorthodox captain, MS Dhoni.

You don’t find players like Dhoni every day. There are three types of cricketers – hard working, talented and gifted – Dhoni falls in the gifted category. His unorthodox methods have taken India to the ultimate height in the limited-overs format.

Stars, Art Thou Shining?

Dhoni’s debut in the Indian team was delayed. While from the same batch of Yuvraj Singh, Mohammad Kaif, Harbhajan Singh, et al, Dhoni was neglected for a long time. India was struggling to find a proper wicket-keeper batsman during Ganguly’s period as captain. India tried Parthiv Patel, Dinesh Karthik but things did not look permanent until the selectors, along with Ganguly, decided to try Dhoni as a primary wicket-keeper.

Dhoni was lucky to start his career under a captain who always believed in giving the newcomers enough chance before making a judgment on their suitability. Dhoni struggled in the first few games until a game against Pakistan at Visakhapatnam. Ganguly, in one of his interviews, had said that he felt Dhoni was a player with a big heart. However, he was not sure why Dhoni was struggling. In the game against Pakistan, Ganguly gave up his batting position to test Dhoni’s ability by giving him ample time to get set and play his natural game. As it turns out, it was a masterstroke. Dhoni scored 148 runs in 123 balls and India had discovered its much-desired wicket-keeper batsman.

Stars Shining Brighter

There was no turning back for Dhoni and he had cemented his place in the Indian line-up. The real turnaround in Dhoni’s career occurred when he was chosen as the captain of the Indian T20 team for the inaugural edition of the ICC World T20 held in South Africa in 2007.

A tournament in which no one rated India to win, especially because the squad was one of the youngest and the most inexperienced amongst all others, it was the Dhoni-led Indian team that emerged winner, in the end, beating Pakistan in one of the most dramatic games the world of cricket has ever seen. It seemed as if India was destined to win the cup. Whatever Dhoni touched turned in gold for India. It looked like India had found its captain for the limited-overs cricket.

Later in 2007, Rahul Dravid had dropped himself as captain of the Indian Team, the selector had started looking ahead for the 2011 World Cup. There was a thought to make Ganguly the captain again, but it would have made the future of the Indian team post 2011 World Cup look dull.

Dhoni was new, he was loved by all after winning the World T20, and was made the captain of the Indian team that had Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly and Rahul Dravid in the line-up who mentored Dhoni in every way possible.

Playing By His Rules

By 2008, Dhoni was ambitious for the 2011 World Cup and wanted to build his own team. It was unfortunate to see that Rahul Dravid and Sourav Ganguly did not fit in his vision for the 2011 World Cup. Both the Indian veterans were dropped from the ODI team but continues to play Test cricket. It was a bold decision by Dhoni but it was fruitful and as it turns out, winning the Tri-Series in Australia was one of the biggest achievements in ODI cricket for Dhoni as a captain to that time.

With the retirement of Anil Kumble in 2008, followed by Sourav Ganguly in the same series against Australia at home, Dhoni was now the captain of the Indian Test team as well. India had a great run in Test cricket under Dhoni for a year. Most of the matches were played in home conditions which led to India becoming number one in Test cricket for the first time in history.

When India hosted the World Cup in 2011, the pressure was extremely high due to high expectations. But no one talked about the fact the no-host nation ever won the world cup before 2011. Expectations were high because the final was to be played at Wankhede Stadium, Sachin Tendulkar’s home ground. The Indian hero was playing his last World Cup. In the end India was able to win the tournament and Dhoni became immortal in the history of World Cups for Indian fans.

Failure in Away Test Series

India was ranked number one for quite some time until they started touring Australia and England. Dhoni’s team lost to Australia by 4-0 in 2011/12 and again by 2-0 in 2014/15 in the away series. They also lost to England in an away series by 4-0 in 2011 and lost to England in the home series 2-1 where the Indian team was troubled by Monty Panesar in 2012-13. However, Dhoni’s men won a Test series in New Zealand 2009 under him.

Dhoni’s captaincy in the limited-overs format has been so street-smart that people tend to forget his shortcoming in the longer versions. He is a fabulous wicket-keeper. One of the safest hands behind the stumps and when it comes to stumping, he is lightening. His captaincy sometimes overshadows his wicket-keeping skills and the fact that he has been one of the best finishers in ODI cricket while chasing.

It is sad to see people criticizing this man who gave all he had. Yes, there have been games where we have seen Dhoni not living up to his name but, we as fans do not have any right to tell Dhoni whether he should hang his boots. He is a wise man and he will retire precisely when he wishes to. Kindly let the man make the call himself.