MS Dhoni's new beginning

MS Dhoni’s seemingly last walk back to the pavillion. Sydney 2015

At the fall of India's fourth wicket, MS Dhoni walks out to bat. India require 221 runs from 27 overs. The asking rate has crossed 8. They are playing Australia. It's the Semi-final of the 2015 World Cup. Sydney is absolutely packed. The crowd is making noise, a lot of it. It has probably crossed all decibel levels.

Dhoni has always been under pressure when he comes out to bat, but this is different. This is insane, this is unreal. Dhoni has won India matches from positions like this before. Dhoni has always believed he could. People have always believed he could, today is no different. But today, Dhoni doesn't believe he can, he just doesn't.

India need him to score quickly, he doesn’t. It’s all singles and doubles. India needs that raw power of his, not the deft touches and soft hands. India needs those helicopter shots, not the nudges for ones and twos.

India needs those big shots. But they never come. A run here, a couple there. That’s all he can manage. Dhoni is dropped on 42 by Michael Clarke. Normally, dropping Dhoni signals the end for the opposition. But not today, it doesn’t. Dhoni can't take India to victory today.

He finally departs, run out for 65 in the 45th over. His dismissal seems pretty symbolic to his innings, disappointing and lifeless. He flicks to mid wicket, and starts jogging half-heartedly to the other end. Glenn Maxwell is quick onto the ball and hits the stumps directly at Dhoni’s end. Dhoni doesn’t bother trying to make his ground. It’s as if he has given up. He probably had.

The painful walk back seemed his last in Indian colours. He had quit Test cricket a couple of months back. It felt as if he would quit the limited-overs format as well. Nearly eight years of captaincy had taken it’s toll. India eventually lost by 95 runs. He shed a tear. A never seen before show of emotion before what seemed to be his final goodbye. Except he wasn’t done yet. He said he was not quitting. A reason to smile, on what was a sad day for Indian cricket. Dhoni hadn’t given up yet, Dhoni was still up for a fight.

India’s next ODI assignment was against Bangladesh in June. It was a new beginning for the team, it was a new beginning for Dhoni. All through the World Cup and the IPL, it was evident that Dhoni couldn’t score as quickly, couldn’t produce the big hits as consistently as before. He couldn’t be as good a finisher as he was before. Dhoni knew it as well, he knew it very well.

It was not without any reason that he promoted himself to number four. He knew that he needed to get out of his comfort zone, that he needed to get out of a spot he’s made his own for the benefit of his team. While India embarrassed themselves against Bangladesh, one of the few positives that came out of the series was Dhoni’s aggregate of 116 runs in two innings at his new position. MS Dhoni had begun his new life. He was a finisher no more.

When the South Africans come to India for the ODI’s, it would be Dhoni’s first big test in the top order. It would almost be a second debut, for, never before has he batted in the top order consistently.

The challenges will be different. He’ll need to lay the foundation for the lower order to score quick runs at the end. He’ll need to learn how to respect the good balls, he’ll need to learn how to leave. He’ll need to learn how to tackle the new ball when it’s doing strange things.

In order to learn all of this, he’ll need to unlearn a craft he had perfected, that of being the best finisher the game has ever seen. In a sense, that will be his biggest challenge, not being a master at what he does anymore.

The South African attack will leave no stone unturned in exposing him, in trying to prove this promotion a failure. But as we saw in the Test matches in England last year, Dhoni has the ability to score runs against the swinging ball. If he does manage to handle Dale Steyn and Morne Morkel with the new ball, it would go a long way in ensuring that India solves it’s problem of not having a fixed number four, ever since Yuvraj Singh lost form and eventually, his place in the team.

If he does score runs here, he’ll have a lot of confidence heading into the ODI series in Australia early next year. If he does score runs here, he would have proved to himself that he can still score runs, that he can still be of value to India in ODI cricket.

He had given himself time till the 2016 World T20 to decide whether he’ll continue playing or not. If he does score runs here, he’ll know that he adds tremendous value to this team.

Once he knows, once he believes that he adds value to India, he’ll continue playing. If he doesn’t, he’ll definitely bid his final goodbye. This series, as well as the one in Australia couldn’t be more crucial. For Dhoni, for India, for us.