I was not a huge Dhoni fan when he started off with a swashbuckling 148 against Pakistan at Vizag. I still remember the days when Dhoni and his 4 glasses of milk were so famous that it even came in a movie. I started to admire him on the way he got matured after he was given the captaincy, the way he backed the players to perform well, the way he stepped away from limelight during glory and most importantly, the way he carried the team on his shoulders.
Dhoni then went on to become the most successful test captain of India and the most successful Test Wicket-keeper/Batsman. Let’s see some arguments kept against MSD and come up with a reasonable counter argument.
Argument: Dhoni has limited technique.
Counter argument: Dhoni didn’t have the privilege that most kids in metro do. No proper cricket coaching, no grooming as a kid. Cricket wasn’t even his first sport. For someone who started off late, he has come up trumps against all odds.
Argument: Dhoni is not a good enough test batsman.
Counter Argument: Sure, if we expect he standards of Gilchrist and Andy Flower, he’s not quite up there. But heck, he was the best wicket-keeper/batsman India produced. Think of the times we had Nayan Mongia, Saba Karim, Vijay Dahiya, Deep Das Gupta, Samir Dighe, Ajay Ratra, Parthiv Patel and Dinesh Karthick. We were desperate for a wicket-keeper/batsman who could actually bat well. For a long time, we were wanting a proper wk/batsman and a pace bowling All-Rounder. We have been lucky to have got the former.
Argument: Dhoni is a defensive test captain.
Counter Argument: I would totally buy this if he was the same in home tests. Like Dravid said He had the resources to win at home and to attack, sadly he wasn’t blessed with match winning bowlers who could take 20 wickets abroad. Think about last year when we were supposed to win 2 tests in SA & NZ last year had our bowling unit been able to take wickets.
Argument: We got Sehwag, Yuvraj, Harbhajan under Ganguly.
Counter Arguement: We have Virat Kohli, Ajinkya Rahane, Murali Vijay, R Ashwin, and Cheteshwar Pujara under Dhoni (Mentioning only the genuine Test players in this list). Kohli, already an ODI great and on course for test greatness was mentored by Dhoni. Even Rohit Sharma groomed under MS Dhoni.
Argument: Winning the World Cup was a team effort and Dhoni didn’t contribute anything.
Counter Arguement: Ok, if this was English Premier League, this will hold true to some extent, because titles aren’t decided by a single match. But, We have the all-important final in cricket World Cup, and only the team that wins it can lift the trophy. All what the others did till then becomes inconsequential. Not taking anything away from what others did, but Performing in the finals is of at most importance. Dhoni did that under pressure in front of his home fans and didn’t have the rush of blood to get out like Gambhir (taking nothing away from his brilliant innings). If all of that was not enough, he won the champions trophy with his own team, in a brilliant final defending a modest target.
Argument: Dhoni took a long time to go.
Counter Argument: He knew there were no replacements. He knew we would still lose before we start improving abroad. He said if there was a replacement available, he will step down. He did as he said before. He could’ve well taken another year and had a grand farewell home series, but that’s not him. He went when the time was right. Not many have got it right. For the next 2 years India will play test matches only in India which will give Virat some time to get matured and learn few things as a captain before travelling overseas. In this period, India might groom a young Wicket-Keeper. So, this is the right time for him to leave. Having said this, it would have been better if Dhoni had played his farewell Test at the SCG.
All said and done, Dhoni is the greatest wicket-keeper/batsman produced by India, an ODI great, one of the top wicket-keeper/batsman in tests and an incredible leader of men. If Dravid was the best tactical captain, if Ganguly was the most aggressive captain, Dhoni was the most unemotional, un-Indian captain who gave everything to the team still carried nothing off the field. He was probably hated by many Indians for this one quality of being unemotional. This very quality prompted Kirsten to say he’d go to war with Dhoni.
We will miss your flexing of shoulders when you stand up to spinners in tests, we will miss those bludgeoning cuts and pulls against pace bowlers, those stumpings effected within micro seconds, that non-chalant dislodging of stumps behind your back, we will miss all those cheeky comments. We will miss you in tests as an effective no 7 batsman.
Courtesy: Prasanna Kumar