Last week, India crashed out of the T20 World Cup, 2009, without winning a single match in the super-sixes. There was lots of cries amongst the Indian fans criticizing the Indian captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni, even burning effigies of him. Then there were some former greats saying "his honeymoon period is over", etc. Then there was this gtalk status message of one of my friend's friend saying that Dhoni has no talent at all and that he is very lucky to achieve all those which he has till now. To all these people, let me mention a few things which I think about Dhoni.
It was not mere luck that he was made the captain, nor was it luck that he won the T20 world cup for us with a young and new team. It was not luck that, his team won the final edition of the famous tri-series in Australia beating the mighty hosts twice. It was not luck that his started the downfall of the Aussie test empire by winning the test series in India 2-0. Yes, Anil Kumble was the captain in that series, but because of Kumble's injury, Dhoni was the captain for the two tests which India won. It was not luck that India won the ODI series against England (5-0) and in Sri Lanka(3-2 in 2008 and 4-1 in 2009). It was not luck that his team won a test after 33 years and a test series after 41 years in New Zealand and remember the second test when Dhoni was injured and India struggled and just managed to earn a draw. Needless to say that India also won the ODI series in New Zealand (3-1). Yes, he doesn't have the technical brilliance of a Sachin Tendulkar or a Rahul Dravid but thats not all which makes a cricketer and more so a captain. It requires a lot of commitment and as the commentators say "You have got to have something between your ears" and he has lots of it. Its certainly not luck. It requires a lot of meticulously and shrewdly thought out plans and self belief to implement them. Remember the 8-1 field against Katich and Hayden in the fourth test of the Border-Gavaskar trophy?
Yes he had a few failures, the Asia Cup, the recently concluded T20 world cup etc. But thats the way it is. No team can keep on winning each and every match. Sport would be so boring if only one team is winning everywhere. So all those who are criticizing Dhoni right now and burning his effigies, this is for you. "Dhoni is the best captain that India has had over the years and by a long way too or may be Dada comes a close second, but others, forget it and also currently, the best wicketkeeper batsman in India".
So Go Dhoni!! Go India!! All the Best for the West Indies Tour!
2 comments:
It indeed was a good piece of writing supported by matured thinking and stats. But i differ with the last few lines. Neither dhoni is the best captain India has ever had nor he is the best wicketkeeper batsman in our country. In my opinion, the best captain is Ganguly and Dinesh Karthik is the best keeper in the country and he bats better than Dhoni at least in the current scenario. If not a captain, i think it would be difficult for Dhoni to retain his place in the team.
Well, if you are comparing the results in case of Ganguly Vs Dhoni then certainly Dhoni wins as you know the no. of finals India lost under Ganguly's captaincy. All other parameters are subjective and we can have a long discussion on those.
Regarding the best wicketkeeper batsman, don't just go with what Dinesh Karthik has done in IPL. Look at first class stats. Look at test and ODI stats. Karthik has played 22 tests so far but has not made a mark yet.
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