MS Dhoni - A Leader who Walks Along, Stands Behind

MS Dhoni – A Leader who Walks Along, Stands Behind: Indian Cricket has been dominated by a person from the last 10-11 years who is as selfless as the air we inhale and as calm as a stopped watch. The team has seen many players coming in and many moving out, yet he churns out a plan with the squad he gets and makes sure that his team tastes victory each time. He doesn’t feel a glitch when the wickets are falling down and the team is on the verge of getting knocked out. Instead he takes off all the pressure from his side and burdens the opposition with his hitting and ability to connect the bat and ball in any situation and finish off with a six making every fan re-live the moment when India won the World Cup in 2011. He’s arguably the best wicket-keeper batsman India has ever seen. He is the champion of a champions Mahendra Singh Dhoni.

Given the ropes of captaincy in 2007, he has ensured that till the time he is on the crease, the opposition cannot have a chance of victory. Be it defending the target or chasing it, Dhoni backs his instincts and leads the team from the front. As he is known by all, Captain Cool, he keeps his cool and tends to encourage the young players to be precise and play on their merit and focus on basics rather than trying to play silly shots.

Whenever the team is defending a target, he is the man who is up to business by placing the correct player at a particular fielding position. We often see a leg slip in position at crucial times in a game and everyone will find it pretty awkward or strange until the leg slip grabs a catch. Throwing the ball at part-timer, making out of the box decisions of who will bowl the last overs in a close match or coming up the batting order himself, are his tricks which have added a feather in his hat almost each time. Dhoni a top-notch gambler and he hardly loses anything.

Earlier in his career, he used to bat up the order but, realizing his need lower in the line-up, he started batting at no 6 or 7 as the situation demanded. Even though he batted low, he did not lose his charm to hit the powerful sixes and build pressure on the opposition. When the team faces a batting order collapse, he is right behind everyone and holds his head high and cruises efficiently to pose a target to defend. His innings of 139 against Australia in Mohali in 2013, brought India back in contest when the top order failed to set up a show and wickets kept tumbling quickly.

His rescue in West Indies during the finals of the tri-series against Sri Lanka with 15 runs to get from 6 balls and having the last batsman along at the other end was amazing and the way he held his calm during the entire inning was spectacular. Another brilliant feature about him is the way he bats with the lower order batsmen. The double hundred at Chennai broke many records including the highest 9^th wicket partnership along with the debutant Bhuvneshwar Kumar who had made mere 13 runs when MSD reached his double hundred. It clearly shows that, he is the Go-To man in Indian Cricket when it comes to solving a crisis.

With his sudden retirement from Test Cricket, Mahi has handed over the captaincy to a well deserving player, Virat Kohli. His retirement came as a surprise to everyone as no one expected him to walk off in the middle of an ongoing series. This also left no time for his fellow mates to prepare for a farewell or lift him on their shoulders and to take a victory lap on the ground. His decisions are impromptu on and off the field leaving no chance of error. His selfishness for the game remains as intact as it was earlier and he chooses to play for the country first than taking a small vacation to see his new-born daughter. Still, the country of which he captains homes most number of haters. But, this does not affect his personality at all; he remains composed and patient even in the worst situations. His composure is so attractive that the legends of the game cannot stop praising him!

It has been a long time that Dhoni fans have not seen a big innings from him. He has played his part in every game but one big inning is awaited from the handler and the whole country has an eye on him as where he’ll make his helicopter land. He has redefined the game in the end overs and it is of his ability that the fans have got a habit to not to chew off their nails in close encounters as they know, till the moment Dhoni stands in the middle, they will win it anyhow! It’s the confidence that Mahi has implanted in the brains of his fans in a decade.

His cupboard is filled with many trophies, from 2007 T20 World Cup, 2011 World Cup, 2013 Champions Trophy, and endless list of tournaments still, with every new series, he has the hunger to win the cup again. He lures to achieve whatever he dreams of and believes in his players and boosts everyone regardless of failure. Despite of the success he has achieved in his life, he loves to remain simple and keep his feet on the ground, likes to stay away from the flashes and the limelight, off the focus, Dhoni is a cruel tactician inside the head who likes to get to win it for his team with a simple smile, and his fans love simply his simplicity!