An Open Letter to MS Dhoni thanking him for being an Inspiration and a Role Model for small town folks

MS Dhoni

Dear MS Dhoni,

Greetings!

If one was coming from a small and lesser-known state of Jharkhand (previously a part of Bihar), people never expected too much when it came to cricket. Of course it is a state which has been a factory for producing IAS officers, but, that was it. Talk about cricket and we did not have much to boast off. Cricket is a game which has left its mark in every nook and corner of India. Whenever a kid picked up a bat, he has tried to ape Sachin.

We all had once harboured dreams of playing cricket on a bigger stage. But as the calendar years passed, those dreams faded away. This was because we never really had any inspiration but primarily also because among us we did not have a local hero.

Then came a young boy with those golden locks. MSD, it was a dream to see a cricketer from our state making it to the Indian team. Considering our poor infrastructure, cricket was a game which had always been dominated by the lads from Mumbai, Delhi or Bangalore. There was a time when it was hard to get into the Indian team if one did not have the suffix “kar” in his surname. Dhoni, I want to thank you from the core of my heart for making us live our dream.

Even you had to struggle a lot to get that Indian jersey despite having made your mark in domestic cricket. But when the chance arrived, you grabbed it with both hands. It was a proud moment for all of us. Yes, we were disappointed that you got out on a duck on your international debut. But even then we had a sense of optimism running through our minds –“Even Sachin was out for a duck on his debut, this guy is surely going to make it big”. The year 2005, we celebrated Diwali twice! The way you destroyed the Pakistan bowling attack in Vizag was the reason for that.

We knew that finally we had our boy, making waves in Indian cricket. That was satisfying enough. We never dreamt that you would go on to become the most successful Indian captain and would fill the cabinet with the most coveted trophies in the world. MSD, thank you so much for giving us our most cherished moments in cricket. Two World Cups, a Champions trophy, number 1 ranking in Test Matches for quite some time and much more. You went on and achieved what your predecessors could not.

Dhoni, you are the one who has lit up the eyes of every young kid in small towns and made them realize that if you chase your dreams, nothing is impossible. You have shown us how to remain cool in those pressure situations. Thank you so much, MSD, for breaking the ice and creating an era in Indian cricket.

Those were the days when even high profile cricketers refused to accept the term called ‘retirement’. You walked away gracefully when you knew that the time had come when Test cricket was no longer meant for you. I am sure that when you retire completely from this game, you will quietly walk off the field with your head held high, without letting anybody know what is going through that head of yours.

MSD, you are one of the nicest human beings in world cricket. Thanks for being the way you are. Tears roll down the eyes when we think of the struggle you had to go through. From standing on the Kharagpur Railway station as a ticket collector in the early years of this millennium to leading India to World Cup glory in 2007: this, Sir, is not a joke.

People say that you take it to the last over just to become a hero. I would say it takes guts to take it to the last over, coming in at 7 and finishing off the game with the required run rate of 13 plus. People say that you are selfish as you shy away from batting up the order. I would say that India would not have won most of the games had there not been a finisher like you. People say that you are there because of Srinivasan. I would say that a certain Srinivasan is too small a man to shape your career or your future.

Mahendra Singh Dhoni, thank you so much for being an idol. Thank you so much for being an inspiration. Thank you so much for giving us those cherished moments. I just want to tell you in a few words – “If you have a billion fans, then I am the biggest. If you have one fan, then I am the one. If you have no fans left, then assume that I am dead”.

Yours Sincerely,

Your biggest fan alive