Dhoni has been a constant with Team India, first as a player and then as the captain, for more than eight years now. KRISHNARAJ SINGH JASANA analyses how this always-fit skipper’s sudden absence is being sorely missed by the team
He turns 32 today and perhaps for the first time in his career, Mahendra Singh Dhoni has made us realise that he is human. For over eight years now, he has been a part of 77 Test matches, 219 One Day Internationals and 42 international Twenty20 matches to go with close to 100 IPl matches. Being the wicket-keeper of the side adds to the workload. But, since his debut ODI in December 2004 and Test match a year later, the Indian captain has virtually been a part of every match that India have played, missing out rarely due to injury. He has missed two Test matches, one against New Zealand in 2009 and the other against Bangladesh in 2010 due to a bad back apart from being banned for one against Australia early last year.
And, when he pulled a hamstring during India’s first match in the ongoing tri-series between India, West Indies and Sri lanka in the Caribbean, the results were instant. India lost that match to West Indies by one wicket but, but it was the manner of that loss that told the story. West Indies, while chasing 230 were 220 for nine but the last wicket pair of Tino Best and Kemar Roach was allowed to edge past the line. That spoke more about the absent cerebral skipper, who might have taken the team home, than about the inexperience of stand-in captain Virat Kohli.
The Delhi batsman was vocal during the post-match presentation saying, “There were times when you are under pressure and you miss him (Dhoni) because he remains calm under pressure.”
Now, just a while back, though in an entirely different situation, Dhoni had guided India to a Champions Trophy triumph. That time, while chasing 130 in 20 overs in the final of the tournament, England were 113 for eight and could only manage 11 against a required 17. The run-rate required by chasing teams differed, as did the conditions, but in both matches the difference was one MS Dhoni.
In the very next game they were bulldozed by Sri lanka, who won by 187 runs, which can happen to any side. It brought the team to the oft-repeated pushed-to-the-brink situation and young India responded by beating West Indies by 102 runs in the next. But within that game, it was a curious situation that might not have cropped up had the big boy of Indian cricket was donning the skipper’s cap.
Two of Dhoni’s generals — Ravindra Jadeja and Suresh Raina — were involved in a tiff during the Port of Spain one-dayer on Friday night. In between overs, television visuals showed both men were involved in an animated discussion and it seemed that Jadeja was not happy at the perceived lack of effort by Raina while fielding at slip and missing a catch. It looked as if Raina went up to his teammate, apologised for the folly and told the bowler to get on with the game.
It’s hard to imagine something like this happening if Dhoni instead of Kohli was captain, especially when both men are considered close to him. Managing a team in its 20s, Dhoni’s appearance in a grey stubble these days is enough to discourage any similar situation and it’s his track record of minimal verbal indulgence on or off the field that gives an assessment of how calm the team is when he is around.
In only his first year as a Test cricketer, India toured Pakistan and while batting second, the visitors were trailing by a huge margin of 307 runs with best batsmen back in the hut. Shoaib Akhtar was fiery both with the ball and had plenty to say to the batsmen, Dhoni and Irfan Pathan. Pathan was not the one to hold back and it was quite possible that he would fall into the trap.
But, it was the long-haired Dhoni of 2006, then a junior to Pathan in the side, who told his partner not to react to anything that would be said to them. The left-hander paid heed and both men went on to resurrect their side’s condition. While Dhoni scored 148, Pathan helped himself to a 90 but more importantly, India took a first innings lead of 15 to Pakistan’s 588 and drew the match.
A year later, Dhoni became the ODI captain and in 2008 the Test skipper and synonyms like Captain Cool followed as his temperament made as much noise as his big-hitting.
The present Indian team is in its nascent stage and Dhoni’s temporary absence has shown how valuable an entity he is.