It was mid-2007. After a disastrous exit in the 50-over version, the Indian team was trying to gather what’s left of itself and reform just like the post-scandalous era of 1999-00s. The seniors or legends had decided to skip the inaugural 20-20 world cup, for focussing on what was more important then – ODIs and tests, and rightfully so.
A young captain was selected; a young team was handed over to him. The young Mahendra Singh Dhoni appeared a cool and calm operator who believed more in “gut-feeling” which many would not rely on in this technological age, but this guy did. Giving the bowling super over in the 1st match as captain to a batting all-rounder in Virender Sehwag and a never-before-seen-bowler in Uthappa simply screamed out this man’s dependency on his gut-feel.
India won against an equally young Pakistan side. What followed was a miracle in the eyes of many; India beat South Africa, England, and Australia. All of them who had more “experience” in the T20 format. But India did it. What this eventually gave birth to is the 8-year-old phenomenon called Indian Premier League.
The man had not only realised his dream but was beginning to excel at it. The CB series in 2008, the World Cup in 2011, the Asia Cup in 2010 and 2016, the competitiveness in South Africa, New Zealand, Australia. Match after match, no matter how tough the situation, the man stepped out, made miracles out of impossible situations and returned only with a stump and a smile.
“How did you win that one?” he was asked multiple times. “Well of course, XYZ played well, ABC batted well, PQR bowled well”, he would reply never complementing the fact that 1.2 billion Indians were going bonkers over his magic wand.
Even at his test retirement, he walked off into the shadows silently, just like he walked into it; humbly. You have an arsenal of trophies; at least once you can stand in the middle of frame of the victorious team?
The man has his fair share of haters, who have their reasons to hate and rightfully so. With reference to “The Social Network” movie tagline, “You don’t make 100 million fans without making a few enemies.”
There was and there will always be a reason why Indians such as me will dream. That reason is Mahendra Singh Dhoni. We hear of fairy tales, but do not realise when we are witnessing one in real.
Sachin Tendulkar was born to be great, in no way discounting his humility, devotion and dedication to the game. But, MS Dhoni is responsible for his greatness by dreaming and then realising that dream by using the same “gut-feeling” throughout.
I will dream of not only making my passion a reality, but exceeding all expectations at it, because of Dhoni. Many are, many have, many will dream, because of Dhoni.
Recently, he was asked, “How do you celebrate an Indian win?” – He smiled. That was his celebration.
“When I die, I do not want to be on land or air”, said Bhishma in Mahabharata, maybe that’s why he collects stumps for the day he will be done with cricket.
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