MSD - the inspiration

I follow him – not to memorize all his statistics and call him “just lucky” for all his achievements. I follow him not to argue and decide if he is the best captain of Indian cricket team or if he is just lucky to be the captain of best Indian cricket team but I follow him because he is a perfect picture of a cricketer to me.

He presents to me the character of an ideal leader, a leader from whose style of game there is definitely a lot to learn. I am sure, the moment I used the word “lucky” in cricket context, most of you would have identified the person I am talking about. But for those, who have been kind enough not to assign the adjective “lucky” to him, I am talking about one of the most successful and the most talented skippers, Mahendra Singh Dhoni.

Unlike Sachin or Ganguly, neither did Dhoni go through a very intense coaching nor was his family or home place had a famous cricketing back ground. His entry into cricket India goes back to a time when India was in desperate need of a good wicket-keeper. And when we found a wicket keeper who can also smash and batter opponents with centuries, how could we let go off him?

Again, it was not luck that guaranteed his position in the Indian cricket team, but it was his hard work and determination to prove himself against the odds that held him in the team. His transition from the role of a talented finisher and quick wicket keeper to that of a leader also did not happen overnight without his talent and strong efforts from his side.

Dhoni is that person who can accept and cope with any challenge that was thrown against him. When none of the senior members were ready to lead team India, Dhoni accepted the responsibility with grace and made the most of the opportunity that came to him. India, under Dhoni’s captaincy, lifted up the very first world cup of the shortest format of cricket, with pride.

Later on, he took over as a captain in other two formats also and led the team successfully. Indian cricket has realized many a long awaited dreams under his captaincy. To list a few, India won the CB Series of 2007–08, the Border-Gavaskar Trophy in 2008 and 2010 against Australia (2–0) and the coveted 2011 World Cup under his captaincy.

Dhoni also led the Indian team to the number one position in ICC rankings in Test cricket for the first time in the Indian Cricketing history. His personal records are also noteworthy, in addition to his captaincy accomplishments. He also captains the Chennai Super Kings, the most successful team in the Indian Premier League.

Apart from the records that MSD has set, there is a lot to learn from him. After attaining the historical position No.1 in ICC test rankings, he said, “Achieving something big is tough, but the tougher part is to maintain it; to sustain it.” After all those big achievements, Dhoni simply says, “A captain is only as good as his team”. And after the dismal series loss against Australia, he, as a leader, takes all the responsibility and says, “I need to blame myself, I am the leader of the side. I am the main culprit so of course I blame myself.”

He is humbleness personified, is a great team player and never late to applaud his team after a success. He kept aside his batting style and adapted himself to play a responsible captain innings. He always tries to make things as simple as possible – “it is all just about scoring 1 run more than your opposition”, he says.

He always lives in present and only thinks about the game but never about the result and that reflects in his words when he said– “rather than thinking about something that’s too much ahead of us it is very important to take every game in the right frame of mind and that is what will be our process throughout the tournament.”

Hopefully, he will continue to never mind those biased critics who call him lucky and keep scaling greater and greater heights in his career. As a matter of fact, I find it quite amusing when people call him lucky, as Jean Cocteau, French Writer & Filmmaker says, “We must believe in luck. Else how can we explain the success of those whom we don’t like?”

And if some people are still adamant on attributing his success to luck, then I am lucky to be a fan of lucky MS and I am proud to say that.