‘Cricket is a game of glorious uncertainties’ – a phrase coined for Test Cricket, but more relevant for the shorter version of the game. As clichéd as it is, holds good for the players and their careers too. It just takes a temporary dip in form that gets the followers of the game in general and the media in particular to unleash the sword that has ‘Drop him’ written all over.
The word just changes to ‘QUIT’ or ‘RETIRE’, and in BOLD CAPITAL letters, if you are a successful player and skipper like Mahendra Singh Dhoni and are being perceived as the messiah for all times, the ‘finisher par excellence’ and expected to deliver with an almost hundred percent record.
The Indian limited overs’ captain is at the proverbial ‘twilight’ of his career for his age, which for most other professions is just a number. His fitness however is not in question, nor is his alacrity behind the wickets. His captaincy is not questioned when India wins with ease, but the same tactics and strategies are put to scrutiny when the opposition pulls off a victory. His batting prowess has not waned, his finishing ability is a reference to his presence at the close of the game. The World cup 2011 and the historical ‘Sealed with a Six’ is a performance he is expected to repeat day after day.
From that day Dhoni has been carrying the burden of ‘greatest finisher of the game’ with much aplomb, a tag that earlier belonged to Michael Bevan, the Aussie southpaw known for turning near impossible situations into miraculous victories with ease.
From the moment Dhoni chose to walk out of the Test arena, for reasons best known to him, his game has seen no change, but the perceptions of the armchair critics have made him vulnerable to criticism, trivial at most times, and justifiable on certain occasions.
To shoulder the responsibility for ‘collective failure’ of the national team in the face of the top and middle failing and the Finisher perishes in forcing against the tide.
While Dhoni has moved up the order and bestowed the ‘finishing’ charge to other ‘younger’ players in the recent series with mixed results, the guns are already out for MSD for not finishing on the right side of the result.
The advent of IPL and the Television driven slam bang approach has quickened the game and the adrenalin of the players and spectators alike. For someone who brings in the Buddha like calmness to his on-field approach and with it success and tremendous respect, Dhoni is now staring at the possibility of handing over the reins of the One Day and T20 captaincy to his mercurial successor of Tests. Well that is, if the Selectors were to go by the naysayers’ opinion.
Cricket needs to retain another of its famous clichés – the Gentleman’s game – and for that the Indian team needs the calm and composed approach of Dhoni the captain and the measured aggression of the wicket keeping batsman.
It’s too early to call it a day MSD!
Pic courtesy: Internet
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