The rise and rise of Mahendra Singh Dhoni

Never before in Indian Cricket seen a man like Mahendra Singh Dhoni, the only comparison that one can think of is Kapil Dev, whose rise was so meteoric and whose leadership skills made him a favorite with the whole country in such a short span of time.

The Haryana Hurricane – Kapil Dev was instrumental in leading India to its biggest achievement in Cricket till date. The world cup victory of 1983 was huge as it broke the domination of West Indies over World Cricket. The footsoldier of world cricket was now a reigning force. India continued its supremacy by winning the the cup of 1985.

Dhoni as a youngster impressed with his unconventional style of play

MS Dhoni too vanquished the mighty Australians. In doing so, he might not have yet conquered the world himself yet, but he has certainly created a level playing field. India are the number one test team in the world and we are a strong T-20, ODi side.

When Dhoni entered the world stage, he was a wicket-keeper batsman who was more of a replacement than a seriously considered find. As it turned out, Dhoni’s explosive batting combined with his neat keeping earned him a reputation of a good slog-overs batsman. This was a much needed asset to that side playing with many a senior players who were not as quick as you would want ODI players to be these days.

After India’s debacle at the T-20 World Cup, it became clear that a new leader and a whole new approach was needed to build a world cup winning team. A whole lot of transformations followed such as the removal of Chappel from the position as Coach. MSD was again being looked upon as somebody who would be a good interim choice.

The T-20 world cup that year was of little importance to the Indian team, it seemed. Most countries sending out younger sides with little experience. Big names such as Tendulkar, Dravid, Ganguly, Ponting voluntarily excepted themselves of the competition. MSD and a whole lot of other youngster were given the stage to show what they had!

And my god, it was that day and it is this day today. Mahendra Singh Dhoni has not looked back. Every cricket fan in India has every game of that tournament gutted and fixed in his heart and soul. And who can forget the two games that India won against Pakistan through the course of this tournament.

Dhoni Captain Team India

Mahendra Singh Dhoni and his young guns were crowned as T-20 world champions. Soon after that Dhoni took over the role of the ODI captain. His very first challenge was that against reigning Champions Australia, a seven match one-day series that did not turn out as expected but had enough positives. India lost the series 4-2 with a game washed out.

India coninued its supremacy in the T-20 format by whipping Australia in the lone match of that series.

The one problem that Dhoni still faced was that of quality young batsman who could take the baton on from seniors like Sachin, Dravid, Laxman and Ganguly. It was clear from the series against Australia that the senior batsman still had a role to play and time will be needed for tyransformation. Dhoni decided to take a slow and steady path.

Meanwhile Kumble took over the captains role for the Test matches, which was applauded by one and all. Kumble deserved the duty that many others got before him and as it turned out his stint was a very successful won. With victories in Australia being the key highs.

Dhoni continued to build the Indian team under the protection and guidance of seniors like Tendulkar, Dravid and Kumble. And the result came soon enough, when India achieved a fantastic result in the CB tri-series beating Australi in the best of three finals. It only took India two matches to get done with it. Sachin Tendulkar like always was the hero with back to back match winning performances. But this was not a series of one or two matches, it took great effort and 14 matches for this series to conclude and was played all over Australia in versatile and challenging circumstances. The series produced a string of very potent youngsters, just like Dhoni and India wanted.

Dhoni and coach Gary Kirsten work well with each other

After the test series against South Africa in India, India played the Kitply cup against Pakistan and Bangladesh. Losing to Pakistan in the final, it was a valiant effort from the young Indian side falling short just 25 runs when chasing a target of 315. India had beaten Pakistan earlier in the series by a huge margin though.

India then featured in the much awaited Asia Cup where they reached the finals easily ahead of Pakistan and Bangladesh to meet Sri Lanka. India lost out by a 100 runs but the series left India with some new talent. Suresh Raina coming good with useful performances against Pakistan and Sri Lanka. Also, the dangerous opening pair of V.Sehwag and G.Gambhir consolidated on their record.

Team India was taking shape.

A key component of the Indian batting line-up was Yuvraj Singh and it has been Dhoni’s jkey responsibility to cater for him. His recent demise of form is perhaps the only loss that Dhoni has suffered in his career so far. And we hope its temporary.

It was agaisnt England, his favorite opposition that Yuvraj Singh exhibited his metal. He cracked back to cack centuried in the first two matches of the ODI series leading India to a quick 2-0 wlead. This soon turned into 5-0 and India were looking well on track for an English whitewash when Mumbai was hit on 26/11. Thus the next two matches were dismissed.

It is under these circumstance that the best out of Dhoni can be derived as a leader. He is sensitive to the health of the dressing room as well as India as a nation. He was careful in the media and rarely makes controversies. India soon welcomed back England for the test series.

The year 2009 started on a positive note as India whipped Sri Lanka 4-1 away from home and hence creating history. But the bigger success was yet to come as India broke the kiwi jinx by winning both the test and ODI series in 2009. Dhoni’s men rose to the occasion and we saw a bit of experience setting into the team as Sehwag and Gambhir were on song.

Dhoni has since seen the team go on and off but his star has continued to rise without any doubt. He has now won everything that the IPL has to offer, Champions league and the domestic competition. Under his leadership the Chennai Super Kings have been easily the most consistent IPL team so far.

Dhoni is now in command of the test team as well after Anil Kumble retired on a high with victories against Australia in the Test Series. The team is currently playing Australia in India again!

The year 2011 will be crucial for Dhoni as the team looks forward to the world cup in the Indian sub-continent. Leading up to the cup India’s form in bilateral series has been decent but the Champions Trophy and the T-20 cups have been disappointing to say the least.

But till now, Dhoni and his star in the Indian Cricket world shine as bright as silver!