Emotional expression from a dejected yet proud MS Dhoni fan

Emotional expression from a dejected yet proud MS Dhoni fan: Mahendra Singh Dhoni who was until a few hours ago the captain of the Indian Test team playing at the MCG has called it a day from Test cricket; we will no longer get to see his soothing, calming aura, the composure in Test whites. Out of the blue, came in the surprising news of MS Dhoni deciding to quit playing Test matches with immediate effect. He could have announced it a day ago, even an hour ago during the post-match press conference but the man he is chose to not drag eyeballs and attention from around the world and quietly announced his retirement through the BCCI. A guard of honor and a lap around the park were well deserved but he was never inclined to it, a reserved persona likes to keep his emotions to himself so did he this last time as well.

A press release form the BCCI secretary came as a surprising shocker to the entire cricketing fraternity if not just his fans. This was the factuality so far and now it will be more of a fan depicting his emotions, feelings and thoughts on retirement of an Idol!

MS Dhoni over the years has not only transformed himself as a human being and cricketer but also the team. He started off as a flamboyant, hard hitter who believed in his brute with fearlessness. Gradually, his duties, roles and responsibilities grew first when a surprising decision came in with his selection as the skipper of the Indian team for the T20 world cup in 2007. That saw him take the new names along with him to the high of becoming first T20 world champions.

As expected he was the best choice for ODI and Test captaincy as and when the posts were there for grabs. The long locks got short, the flamboyance eased into calmness; in the most testing of times when the pressure would get nerves of the most controlled, Dhoni stayed cool and earned the tag of being Captain Cool of the Indian team, some like to term him ‘as calm as a cucumber’. A feature every player and captain would love to have in them.

India in him got a package, a complete cricketer who could keep wickets, bat as good as anybody and lead the team as well. In the past they would complain of having wicketkeepers who could not bat, some batted well but did not hold good as keepers. Before Dhoni debuted, the team had already tried too many names and once he got in and settled down, ensured they never actually needed to look beyond him for either of the tasks.

He played 90 Tests for India, 144 innings in it and scored 4876 runs averaging around 38, 6 Test hundreds and 33 fifties. These are not great but significant numbers for someone who multitasked on all the five days of a Test match. I can with conviction say that Dhoni is the best wicketkeeper India has had, 294 dismissals for him in the longest format, as 256 catches and 38 stumping makes him the leader for India and the 5th highest in international cricket history.

The most successful Test skipper that India has had, won 27 out of the 60 matches though most of these came at home but numbers do suggest he led the team like nobody has done. Under him, the team also scaled high of becoming the number 1 Test team in 2009 and maintained it till 2011.

One can like or dislike the cricket that he played but surely not discard the contribution he has made to Indian cricket. He did not leave the team after the disastrous white washes in England and Australia, the lowest points in his career as well. But rather handed over Virat Kohli the baton when the team has almost rebuilt with a lot of young boys who are just about there and in no time will we see the team become men and get back to the winning ways.

Anybody who has seen him or knows the guy he is, has respect for him from within, an idol to many an inspiration for the upcoming generation. Off my chair in complete respect and gratitude take the guard of honor you deserved Mahi, not in the lime light but inside my heart I am saddened yet proud for being a follower, a fan of one of the best personalities Indian cricket has been privileged to have.