An open letter to MS Dhoni

MSD – My hero!

Dear Dhoni,

I started watching cricket in 2007, when I was 10. The first vivid memory I have of cricket is Yuvraj Singh‘s six sixes off Stuart Broad in the 2007 T20 World Cup. Then there was that guy Joginder Sharma who bowled to Misbah and Sreesanth took the winning catch. Somewhere in the scene, there was always a guy with long hair at the non-striker’s end when Yuvraj was on a roll, or the one who calmly guided Sharma as he bowled the final over of a nail-biting match. Yes Dhoni, it was you.

I, maybe like any other girl of that time, started to admire you. Even though you got your hair cut soon after, my liking didn’t dwindle one bit. But this is not really about the hairstyle. Beneath the helmet, below those changing hairstyles, there was a crease on the forehead when the national anthem was being played, humility and affection in eyes, a sheepish grin on lips, hands that fastened and unfastened the gloves after every ball and legs that ran faster than light between the wickets.

Then came the World Cup 2011. As the team sailed through the quarters and semis after beating Australia and Pakistan respectively, every player danced with joy. All you did was smile, and maybe took out one stump. The final came. Sri Lanka put up a decent total and Sehwag got out for a duck. Sachin Tendulkar, from whom we all had high expectations, failed to perform. Gambhir batted brilliantly but couldn’t finish the game. And then came the greatest finisher, Mr. Mahendra Singh Dhoni. Sir, it was Sachin’s cup, but you were the one who gifted it to him. Most of them had tears in their eyes, they were overflowing with happiness. I thought Tendulkar was really a balanced man but even he was bubbling with excitement that day. He ought to, but that’s not my point. Why didn’t you jump with joy? Don’t you have a heart? It can’t be possible, not just biologically, but if you didn’t have a heart, you wouldn’t have humility, modesty and you wouldn’t have credited the team for wins and blamed yourself for a loss. You wouldn’t have become the punching bag so willingly!

There are some deeds of yours which leave me touched (I wonder why you have critics at all). Be it the last match of Ganguly where you gave him captaincy on the last day of Nagpur Test or when you became the translator for Praveen Kumar, when he won his first man of the match award. Hats off to you, Sir!

Most girls’ love for cricket dies down with the 3-hour T20 matches. But I watch Tests and ODIs with the same fervour. And you know what? I just can’t afford to miss the toss and after-match presentation. Thanks to you!

Dhoni, you’re not God. You’re Mahendra Singh Dhoni, a superhuman in itself. A salute to you. No matter what the stats say, you will be the best Indian captain for me.

Love,Perhaps your biggest fan