The first and only time I saw Mahendra Singh Dhoni outside the confines of a television set was after his debut tour to Bangladesh in 2004-’05: his big break in the national team. His foray into international cricket was quite forgettable, as we all (ironically) remember. He was run out on a duck on his One-Day International debut (Dhoni being run out sounds like a conspiracy theory now).
In the third and final ODI of the series, Dhoni walked in after a Yuvraj Singh blitz, always a hard act to follow. He came on in the last over, with three balls to spare, on the non-strikers’ end. Mohammad Kaif took a single and handed him the strike. Dhoni, left to face two balls in what could be a make-or-break debut series, hit the first one for a six over long off and took a single off the second. Little did anyone know that these snippets were foretelling one of Indian cricket’s greatest stories.
I saw Dhoni in person after that tour on a flight back to Ranchi, a hometown we share. It would also be the last time I would see in him up close. He was travelling economy.
As it turned out, he got another chance to play. The selectors dropped Dinesh Karthik for Pakistan’s 2005 visit to India and the rest, as they say, is history. On Wednesday, over a decade since that tournament, Dhoni sprang his decision to step down as limited-overs captain, catching everyone unawares, much like his helicopter shots. After delivering the World T20, the World Cup and the Champions Trophy titles, Dhoni is no longer captain of the Indian cricket team.
Despite that fact sounding jarring and unnatural, it is only logical consequence that Dhoni hands over the reins to Virat Kohli, who is already leading the men in whites, quite admirably too. The announcement comes as a shock not because of its nature but because of its timing. Not many were expecting it to happen so soon. But doing things in an expected way has never been Dhoni’s style.
What MSD meant to Indian cricket
Over the years, Dhoni has meant a lot of things for Indian cricket fans. For some, he was the point of inflection on the Indian cricket graph when it came to chasing down totals. For others, he represented the very idea of the modern cricketer: intelligent, self-aware, athletic, composed and yet ruthless when needed. He was both the calm before the storm and the storm itself. For the rest, he was just the guy who won India the World Cup.
For years, an entire generation of cricket fans in India had only vicariously experienced the emotion of being world champions through a generation of elders reliving the tale of a brave group of men who stood up against the then mighty West Indies in 1983. Everyone from that time remembers where they were and what they were doing when Kapil Dev, sporting the iconic blue blazer, lifted that silver trophy. The nation was never to be the same. Statistics can tell us a lot about a cricketer’s contribution or where and how a match tilted. But what it cannot tell is the number of children who picked up a bat or a ball in 1983 and started to dream.
Powerful moments like the one at Lord’s can leave an indelible print upon a nation’s social fabric. Dhoni gave an entire generation, yet starved of that unifying emotion, a story of their own. We all remember where we were when Dhoni sent the ball flying high into the Mumbai night sky in April 2011. What the man also represents is the fulfillment of suburban dreams. That is a narrative that cuts across India. Small town, big dreams, and if you work hard enough you will get there. We are suckers for stories like that. And there could be no better protagonist than Dhoni.
Moments man
When it came to the game itself, Dhoni was a moments-man. He always found an extraordinary way to do an ordinary thing, be it no-look run-outs, helicopter shots, clever stumpings, or his leg standing in for the first slip. It’s hard to forget things when they are done with flair. His captaincy too was an extension of his self. One could say he is probably the most natural-born leader in the game. It always felt like he, much like in a game of chess, had played out the match in his head. He knew when and where things could go wrong or what could tilt the odds in his favour and worked on the basis of that. And it all seemed like it was happening instinctively on the field.
Nothing could throw him off, nothing could surprise him. He always looked like he was in control of the proceedings and even when he was not, he acted really well to look the same. His Test captaincy often left a lot to be desired, but there has not been a better ODI captain for India. In the years since Dhoni started out, the Indian cricketing landscape has been re-carved. The old guard, inevitably, were phased out. Eras came to an end with the departure of Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly, Rahul Dravid, VVS Laxman, Anil Kumble and Virender Sehwag. But the future is always knocking on the door.
Dhoni was there at that crucial juncture, that middle ground, to hold the door open for the old guard to walk out and for the young blood to walk in. Ganguly is remembered as the captain who gave India, once perceived as meek, its intent. Kohli, already proving successful with his aggressive, yet focussed, brand of captaincy, will probably be remembered as the captain who gave it teeth. But Dhoni gave the team its soul. His importance, especially in a post-Tendulkar era, goes beyond boundaries.
What lies ahead
Now, we are faced with the prospect of seeing Dhoni play under someone else’s captaincy. He still is the best choice wicketkeeper-batsman available for limited-overs cricket. As he has shown in his last few innings, he could now have a different role in the team higher up the order at number four. An anchor rather than a finisher. Many are now saying that Dhoni can now bat without the added pressure of captaincy, that he could extend his career. Frankly, it always felt like pressure brought the best out of him. He soaked all the pressure and reveled in it.
So, the idea of him just discharging his duties as a wicketkeeper-batsman, unhindered by the weight of leadership makes one curious. How would it be? Would we see a Dhoni rejuvenated? The great thing is: whatever it will be, it promises to be fun. Dhoni doesn’t do dull. And the luckiest man in this arrangement is Kohli. In Dhoni, he’ll find an infinite reservoir of wisdom and he would do well to dip into it. You can already see it, right? The two standing in discussion over a bowling change; the gung ho and the guru. Yes, it would definitely be fun.