Mahendra Singh Dhoni stepped in to bat with his usual long stride, face turning back to the sun, eyes closed and his bat in shadow practice for a copybook straight drive. Dhoni always wanted to play straight in the initial two overs before he angled his bat for big hits. The crowd cheered and gave him a standing ovation as the hero of Indian cricket took stance in the famous Brabourne stadium in Mumbai in the first one day warm-up match against England. Dhoni had the pressure on him to perform. The chant of “Dhoni! Dhoni! Dhoni” hardly had any impact on his calm. In the initial two overs, Dhoni played with straight bat to judge the bowlers and the behaviour of the pitch. Then came the deluge of runs as the destroyer of bowlers cut, pulled, flicked, square drove, lifted and steered to build a memorable captain's innings of 68 off 40 balls, to take India’s total to 304 runs.
Dhoni’s last innings as the captain of India’s one-day team had both grace and thunder. Though he may not have the raw energy and the reflex when he was in his20s, he compensates it with his ability to find the gap, with better timing and a more mature batting strategy. He entertained the crowd with sixes and fours.
Captain Dhoni picked up the right moment to step down as captain of ODI and T20 team when he is in full form. He sets an example of leader ship. He has stepped down to let youngsters flourish which will serve the interest of the game. This is an example before the India political class to emulate. An inclusive politics always grooms quality leadership in ever field. No sapling can grow if a tree caste its shadow over others.
The good thing is that Dhoni is still around to serve Team India as a player. The three formats, Test match, ODI and T20, are tough to juggle as they need totally different strategies, approaches and energy-levels to perform well. Cool Dhoni has mastered the three formats with three World Cup wins.
Being a wicket-keeper, Dhoni always studies the batsman’s footwork, how much he stretches, his reflex, his weak spots, his temptation, his strength and judgement. The man knows what irritates the batsman.
Accordingly, he used his bowlers and set the fielding to trap the batsman. He has made the best use of his bowlers in all formats of the game. People enjoy his decision in the field, which unfolds like a good cine script with all its unpredictability. One can remember Dhoni using the rookie, Joginder Singh, to lure Misbah ul Haq in the last over of the 2007 T20 World Cup. India won the World Cup with Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s clever tactics.
Dhoni let many world big hitters, namely Shahid Afridi, Chris Gayle, Brian lara, Ricky Ponting, Jacques Kallis, AB de Villiers, Kumar Sangakara and others fumble with his experience as well as with the deployment of rookie bowlers. Dhoni constantly tried for a breakthrough and achieved it with the available resources. Big hitters many have demolished many a world-class bowling attack but fumbled when Dhoni shuffled his bowlers. Dhoni’s ability to remain cool at critical moments has been his real strength which helped him snatch victory from the jaws of defeat many times. Dhoni has given scope to many young players to perform in the top order while pushing himself to fifth or sixth down to build the team’s total or to chase a big score. He is one of the greatest finishers of the game the world has ever produced.
Dhoni at 35 is still a game-changer. Yuvraj Singh once asked Dhoni, “Will you hit more sixesIJ” Dhoni answered that he would if the situation demanded. Dhoni has hit 197 ODI sixes, the highest among Indians, and ranks fourth in the world’s top six-hitters. With nine centuries and 61 fifties in ODIs, he has had many victory moments. His desire to hit more boundaries will serve India’s interest in the years to come. Relieved of captainship, Dhoni will be free to reach for the rope, or go over it, even more often.