Mahi: who has a beginning but no end!

So it's another July 7. Mahendra Singh Dhoni grown one year older. At 39, he is well and truly in the evening of his career. They say, in the life of every athlete there comes a time when there are signs that the end is near.

His keeping hasn't been without faults, the byes seem to come every game and an odd edge too finds its way past him. As for his batting, every time he has walked out to bat in the last World Cup, he seemed to be playing from memory.

Actually, all good things must come to an end and there's this feeling that Dhoni might well be on his last lap. And knowing Dhoni, the kind of person he is, there may not be an official announcement of one of India's most popular and successful captains walking into the sunset.

Dhoni has always been a man at peace with himself. At the height of his success, he was firmly grounded. He is someone who has never allowed all his fame and fortune to control his life. He likes to keep things simple. And, as they say, Simple is Beautiful.

True to himself, the man may well say goodbye far away from a packed audience at a match and much after the dust settles down on his retirement. No sea of emotions in the stands. No guard of honour from his colleagues. And no lap of honour from the man himself!

This silent exit may well be a style so typical of the man, just like the way he gave up Test captaincy and later even the limited overs captaincy. For someone who follows his own wisdom, and wears his humility on his sleeves, Dhoni has been a man who isn't given to display his emotions openly.

The Ranchi Boy loves the sound of silence. He loves to be behind the scenes, and do the work silently. Right from the time he made his debut for India, Dhoni prefers the last row seat till date, who is happy to be in the background.

The Captain Cool might not be in his supreme, but for a man like him, the fragrance of his greatness will always be there, which is eternal. Man fades away but his work, his supremacy, his greatness?

5 April, 2005

India were playing arch-rivals Pakistan in the second One Day International match of a bilateral series and were batting first on a relatively flat Visakhapatnam surface. India got off to a poor start losing Sachin Tendulkar in just the fourth over of the innings.

Everyone expected the then captain Sourav Ganguly to come in at number three. But to their surprise, in walked at number three Mahendra Singh Dhoni and changed not only the course of the match but the face of Indian Cricket. He took the opportunity found here and hit 148 runs in 123 balls to bring the Indian team's score to 300. With this innings, Dhoni confirmed his place in Team India. This was the 5th match of his ODI career.

It might have been the thunderous knock that almost single-handedly won India that game, but, it was the Ranchi boy’s calmness that helped him change the face and the approach of Indian Cricket.

It has been close to a decade and a half but to the most ardent followers and fans of Indian Cricket, this might just feel like yesterday. It is a day clearly etched in memories.

India has seen a lot of captains and wk-batsmen in the past but none could match ever with Dhoni's outstanding acumen and sharpness behind the wicket and his exceptional ability with the bat as he slaughtered the best of bowling attacks from across the world.

Dhoni was the answer of India's long search for the wk-batsman who could be agile and audacious both behind and on the wicket. 

As a captain, Mahi did not go by the statistics. In fact, some of his decisions that have gone on to create history for India were heavily scrutinised and frowned upon when they were being taken on the field. But perhaps his hallmark as a leader was not to hide behind the curtains of excuses rather his ability to stay in the moment-cool, calm and composed. For him, it was always ‘The Country Comes First’.

He was a captain who backed his instincts and also the players he picked. He knew very well how to get the best out from his team. In turn, he won the trust and respect of his teammates. Throughout his fairytale journey in international cricket, he remains the  street-smart cricketer of Ranchi, whose cricketing skills are as original as Tribal Art.

He has survived the hard grind of international cricket for 15 eventful years living, and playing, on his own terms. All along, he never forgot his roots. And his humility took him to greatness. Among all the players of the present generation, it is perhaps Mahi who comes close to defining what this new India is all about- a dreamer who does not get intimidated when opportunities come and follows his instincts, his heart. Rather than following the chosen path of textbook cricket, there was a carefree spirit in which he played his cricket. The blueprint of his batting came not from the routine coaching manual, but it was backed by the instincts of an adventurous and innovative mind, as well as his captaincy.

Off course it was difficult to lead a team full of high profile seniors, and former captains like Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly, Rahul Dravid, Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir, VVS Laxman, Zaheer Khan and Harbhajan Singh. However, it's a credit to Dhoni’s man-management skills that he not only managed to get the best of these superstars but also took the team to the No 1 spot in Test cricket.

The way in which he presided over the transformation of the entire team — old guards giving way to new young Team India, needs to be praised and remembered.

Dhoni displayed great courage of conviction in backing players like Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, K.L. Rahul, Ravindra Jadeja, Mohammed Shami, Ishant Sharma, Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Ravichandra Ashwin. And each one of them, most notably Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma, have duly acknowledged how big a role Dhoni played in shaping their career.

Besides, Dhoni was blessed with an inbuilt ability to mask his emotions. With experience, he began to hear more and speak less. Which is also why, his words of wisdom came at a premium. He would pass on his wealth of experience to his colleagues being deceptively casual.

To his colleagues, he was always like a elder brother, never the ‘King’. To his close ones, he is always like that boy from the neighbourhood, one who enjoys doing simple things. Like playing video games, watching football and going out for movies. He is also someone who, when introduced to your parents, wouldn’t mind respectfully touching their feet.

This humility, this ability to remain down to earth, was very much evident every time his team won a major tournament, be it the T20 World Cup in 2007, the Champions Trophy in 2013 or the 2011 World Cup at home.

Who can forget that historic 'helicopter shot' at the Wankhede Stadium, when Captain Cool's 'Men in Blue' brought the country to a standstill? Yet, even in his crowning glory moment, you hardly saw Dhoni going overboard or hanging on to the most cherished trophy in the world.

Yes, that's Mahi. He was a captain who took the blame when the team lost and credited the entire team when he won. You'll always hear he would say "I" when the team lost and "We" when the team won. If you look back, you'll find that Dhoni would rarely come for the press conference every time India won. But, every time India lost, you would definitely see him, facing the heat from the media and his critics.

That defines Mahi and his greatness, someone who always put India first. Indeed, he is a gem to the Game and Life!

People know just like how he retired from tests and how he quit captaincy, he will retire from all forms of cricket silently. But...

He has always been a mystery who sometimes made his countless fans cry or sometimes he has been the cause of regret. He is someone who avoided the limelight. He is someone who left the place of love easily. But love never left him. At the moment of sunset, the wings of the new plant of love have stretched!

That's Mahi, like a lotus floating in water!

Thank you for everything legend. Happy Birthday, Captain Cool!

Dhoni at a glance:

Tests - 90, ODI - 350, T20I - 98, IPL - 190
Runs - 4,876; 10,773; 1,617; 4,432
Average - 38.09; 50.58; 37.60; 42.21
Strike Rate - 59.12; 87.56; 126.13; 137.85
Not Out - 16; 84; 42; 65
200s - 1
100s - 6; 10
50s - 33; 73; 2; 23
4s - 544; 826; 116; 297
6s - 78; 229; 52; 209
Highest - 224; 183; 56; 84*
Catches - 256; 321; 57; 98
Stumpings - 38; 123; 34; 38
Trophies - 2011 Cricket World Cup, 2007 T20 World Cup, 2013 Champions Trophy, 2010 & 2016 Asia Cup, 2010, 2011 & 2018 IPL

First-class matches - 131; List A - 423; T20s - 317
Runs - 7,038; 13,353; 6,621
Average - 36.84; 50.38; 39.88
100s - 9; 17
50s - 47; 87; 27
Highest - 224; 183*; 84*
Catches - 364; 402; 170
Stumpings - 57; 141; 83

Captaincy:

Tests (2008-2014) - 60; Won - 27; Lost - 18; Draw - 15; Win% - 45.00

ODIs (2007-2018) - 200; Won - 110; Lost - 74; Tied - 5; NR - 11; Win % - 59.52

T20Is (2007-2016) - 72; Won - 41; T20Is - 28; Tied - 1; NR - 2; Win% - 59.28

         

                                                  ✍️ Subham Dey