There is a lot of diversity in India, diversity in culture, diversity in languages, diversity in appearances, diversity in traditions, diversity in religion, and so on. In fact the types of diversity we have in India are themselves so diverse, that it is almost impossible to list the types of diversity. As far as cricket is concerned, there is diversity in the field, as well as outside it. Inside the field, diversity is expected and required. Outside the field, the diversity is in the types of fans we have for the Indian Cricket team; this diversity is sometimes not good (putting it as diplomatically as possible).
“Kya ghatiya team hai, India ki, mann hi nahi karta dekhne ka” (India has a horrible team, I don’t feel like watching them play)
“Bekar game hai cricket, bahut time waste karta hai logo ka” (Cricket is a useless game, wastes a lot of time)
Then there are fans (fanatics in fact) who would defend their team at all costs, in front of any critics, as if they are attacking not the team but this fan himself.
The humongous fan-base can be broadly classified into two categories – Dhoni lovers and Dhoni haters. There is a third category, but that is a minority and I am not a politician who would give them a special privilege by talking about them when they don’t deserve anything more than a mention.Mahendra Singh Dhoni was a not-so-good looking, coloured long haired, wicket keeper batsman from Ranchi, who had had a few blitzkrieg knocks from his debut in 2004 till 2007 and was almost being touted as the best of his category (wicket keeper batsman) that India had produced. There was not any seriousness about his looks, the way he batted, and the way he kept; he looked like a happy-go-lucky, not-a-care-in-the-world kind of cricketer, who would just go out and have fun.Then came T20 World Cup, 2007. India was the least expected team to win a World Cup, after they had been knocked out by Bangladesh in the ODI World Cup the same year. Add to that almost no experience in T20 format in domestic or international level, and we had a team which were the easiest underdogs in the tournament.Sachin Tendulkar, the most dependable batsman India had, had opted not to play the format after his debut. Rahul Dravid had a game, who till now had not shown any ability suited for the T20 format, was completely out of picture for this World Cup. VVS Laxman was not even a regular in ODI’s. Sourav Ganguly had been completely out of sorts, ever since BCCI made one of the most unfortunate decisions regarding appointing a coach for the team.India were going in a tournament touted as batsmen’s tournament without their best batsmen and their best captain. The reins of the team were given to seemingly the least serious of people in the team – Mahendra Singh Dhoni. There was the explosive seasoned opener in the form of Virendra Sehwag, and a calm and defensive opener (till before the T20 WC began) in the form of Gautam Gambhir. Then there was a veteran spinner in Harbhajan Singh.
But Dhoni was the man chosen over all those options; the reason – the man with the finest cricketing acumen, Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar. It was suggested by the great little master himself that this lad from Ranchi is captainship material.
The man led the team, which had only one explosive batsman in the form of Virender Sehwag, and only one fine bowler in the form of Harbhajan Singh (rest all were fine but not consistent enough to be dependable), to a World Cup victory. Yes, the team which had the least experience of the format, and which had no specialist players, and a first-time captain, had won the World Cup.
The man of the tournament was Yuvraj Singh, who gave the world the moment of the tournament when he hit a helpless Stuart Broad for 6 sixes in an over and had bludgeoned a bowling attack like Australia for a 30 ball 70 runs knock in the semi-final. But the man to whom the world accredited the win was Mahendra Singh Dhoni.
He had made the most unexpected decisions, decisions which no one else would have taken, and they seemed to work for him. On the first look, they looked like luck for him; only a deeper thought told you that there was a simple, yet so effective reason behind each and every of his decision. He had taken the cricketing world by storm. What people would have considered stupidity, had won a team like India a World Title.
Take for example, keeping your worst bowler for the last over in a close chase, while bowling out your best bowler’s overs before the last over. No the worst bowler was not bowling awesome that day, and neither was the best bowler bowling horrible. The thing is, Dhoni gave things a new perspective. Other captains used to think about the pressure that would be on his worst bowler if he is given the last over to bowl in a tight chase, while Dhoni thought about the pressure that would be on the batsman if he needs to score more than 6-8 runs in the last over irrespective of the bowler he is facing. He bowled the penultimate over with the best bowler, so that the batsmen had a bigger task and more pressure in the last over. The result? A batsman like Mr Dependable Michael Hussey crumbled under pressure, and holed out in the last over when he could have easily worked around with a couple of singles off the first two balls.
Some decisions on the same scale of audacity as this decision, combined with a responsive team, combined to give India the Cup.
Fast forward to 2015. India had been winless in the two months they had spent in Australia. Their bowlers were consistently hitting the wrong lengths, batsmen (except Virat Kohli and Ajinkya Rahane) were consistently playing the wrong shots and fielders were consistently out of sorts. This was how India was going into a World Cup. What transpired? A win against the likes of Pakistan and South Africa, leading a 7 match winning streak, halted in the semi-final against a team that played superbly on the day.
People said it was just something to do with Dhoni’s love with ICC tournaments, others said ICC had ensured Indian victory for monetary rewards, and there were yet others who said that India didn’t play good as their opponents played bad. What they didn’t say is that Dhoni’s way of captaincy had once again proved the common traditional way of captaincy wrong.
When you have a completely out of form opening pair, a completely out of form bowling attack, and a partially out of form middle order, who have failed to perform both individually and as a unit in the build up to the World Cup in the same conditions where World Cup is to be played, normal logic would call for a complete overhaul (this team has already shown they will fail in these conditions, so why not give others a chance). But Dhoni was different; he persisted with the same failing team. What this team went on to do (out of form bowling unit getting 70 wickets in 7 matches, fielders fielding as if their life is as stake and batsmen piling up runs or chasing them down like a walk in the park) is for everyone to see.
Just before the World Cup, Dhoni’s wife gave birth to their first child. Two months after that, he hasn’t still seen his daughter in his own hands. “I am on national duty. Everything else can wait” (Dhoni’s own words when asked about it).
Another thing that has come out in open is that whenever business class seats are in shortage for the team, and if Dhoni gets one of those, it is inevitably given to a fast bowler to stretch out his limbs and be comfortable enough.
He is the same man who would almost shrug off nonchalantly an LBW notout decision’s review demanding Ravindra Jadeja by saying “Jab line mei lagega tab batana” (tell me when it hits in line). How rude!
Ask him about the same player in press conference, and you can’t get him to criticise his player for anything. Unconditional support. How Jadeja has responded to it, though occasionally and how others (Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan, Ishant Sharma, Umesh Yadav, etc.) have responded is for everyone to see.
He is the man who takes responsibility in the truest sense of the word. Once he declined a single in the last over of a tight run chase against Sri Lanka, and India lost the match. He didn’t blame the batsmen before him for leaving it so difficult for him. Instead, he took the full responsibility of the result and left everyone speechless.
The spontaneity and shrewdness with which he presents himself is awe-inspiring.
In between 2007 and 2015, has lead the team to No. 1 Test ranking as well as 8-0 drubbing in Australia and England combined, 2011 World Cup victory as well as a winless ODI series in England, 2013 Champions Trophy as well as the winless Carlton Mid tri-series in Australia this year. The one thing that has always been never-contrasting about him, is the way he talks about the contrasting results. “Humble in victory, gracious in defeat” might be an overused cliché, but this man is the epitome of this cliché.
The best captain India has ever produced, the best wicket keeper batsman of India, most successful keeper of India, the best finisher in the world and the coolest captain on the field, the not so serious looking happy go lucky long haired fellow from a town of Ranchi, Mahendra Singh Dhoni. He truly is phenomenal. You can love him or hate him. But he is what he is, and India will always be proud of him as a whole.
PS – I am not a professional writer and am not used to writing long posts. This is as short as I could make, while omitting a lot of other great things about this great man. Forgive, ignore, or add in comments, but never believe that this man can so easily be summed up in a such a short article like this.