Dhoni Demystified!

Hello readers.

It has been a long time since I posted anything on my blog. The World Cup victory and the subsequent hysteria is now behind us. I would try my best to decipher why MS Dhoni has been what he is today- India’s world cup winning captain besides being the world’s highest paid cricketer according to Forbes.

To begin with, Dhoni is a maverick. He believes in himself more than any other Indian cricketer I have ever seen. He is an excellent reader of the game. He understands tense situations, stays cool (sans emotions mostly) and takes calculated (at times very unconventional ) risks. According to him, one has to be different to be successful. He has got a 60% success rate in ODIs and he is easily India’s most successful captain ever. But he has also had his share of failures and embraced them with utmost sportsmanship.

I have been watching Dhoni very closely ever since he burst into the international scene in 2004 with a blistering 148* against Pakistan at Visakhapatnam (which happens to be the place where I did my entire schooling). His approach towards batting has matured from outright aggression to calculated strokeplay as per the needs of the team. He has improved his wicket-keeping skills over the years tremendously. I admit his batting has deteriorated over the past one year or so. But his innings in the WC final against Sri Lanka reminded us all of his gutsy brilliance.
I love his cool temperament which hides his aggression on the field, honesty ( he is not afraid to call a spade a spade) and smart thinking. He has been my idol ever since he started playing for India. After so many years, a guy from a small town made it big at the international scene and hogged the limelight (from Sachin Tendulkar). I don’t mean to compare the two. Tendulkar is a way better batsman when compared to Dhoni. But for the first time, a cricketer in India became more popular (as defined by endorsement fees) than Sachin and caught the fancy of an entire nation. Nobody could even dream of such popularity in the era of Tendulkar. Dhoni is an inspiration for all Indians, especially those from small towns and middle-class backgrounds sans any connections to make it big in whatever field they are in.

To sum up MSD is what he is today because of his smart and unconventional thinking, super cool temperament and tremendous self-belief besides of course, good (not great) cricketing (batting & wicket-keeping) talent. Watch out for more from the man who revolutionised Indian cricket.

Cheers,

Alok