MS DHONI- the man who changed the face of Indian Team

Ideally this is my first blog being a super fan of MSD. I have tried to keep it short but I get carried away when speaking about Dhoni.

 After making his debut for Bihar in Ranji in the 1999-2000, and scoring heavily in that tournament and later making into the East zone side for the Duleep Trophy. But in 2001, he went to Kharagpur railway station as a 20 year old, desperately looking for a job. He was known as a cricket crazy lad then but no one knew he was meant for the bigger things that followed. He got a job in sports quota and kept on playing for East zone, Bihar, Railways and even a tennis ball tournament called Durga Sporting for fun. So this was his 1^st Stage. In 2003, he was selected in the India A team which toured Kenya to play a tri-series tournament including Pakistan A. He had a fantastic series with scoring back to back centuries against Pakistan. On the basis of this and other domestic performance, he was given an opportunity in the ODI squad against Bangladesh in 2004-05. After what was a forgettable debut he came back with a string of strong performance.

In only his fifth inning, he smashed 148 against Pakistan at Vishakhapatnam who were absolutely clueless about this long haired boy from Ranchi who had the most unorthodox style of batting. And Dhoni’s era had begun and he later stamped his authority by scoring 183* at Sawai Maan Singh Stadium, Jaipur against the Srilankan in 2005.

In 2007, he was made the Team Captain of the new brigade for the new format of cricket in the T-20 World Cup. So this was his 2ndStage. He captained the team to victory alongwith outstanding performance from others and later was handed the Test Captaincy too. India later became No.1 Test Team in the ICC rankings. By this time Dhoni established himself as a performer for India in all the three departments-Batting,Wicket keeping and Captaincy. But it was the victory of the 2011 World Cup which brought the smiles on all the Indian Cricket Fans. I clearly remember watching the Final match at my home on 2^nd April, 2011 with my friends and when both Sachin and Sehwag got out, they questioned me “what next bro?”. I just replied with fingers crossed-“ Dhoni will win it for us” And he did just that combined with the performances of others and in a true sense this tournament was a complete Team Game from the Indian outfit.

Moving on to 2013, it was again a transition period for the Indians with seniors either retired or rested due to injuries or poor form. And a new team won The Champions Trophy of 2013 in the alien conditions of England. And this became the 3^rd Stage of his life as he had all the 3 ICC trophies.

Now coming to Jan 2015, Dhoni announced his retirement from Test Cricket and later led India to the semi-finals of the World Cup.

But afterall this is India where people will blame the skipper if India loses but will love him even more when India post a victory. This is the passion for Indians in this cricket crazy country. And Dhoni, he will remain the same keep on doing the same stuffs as he once said after being asked about ”what else is there for him to achieve after he has all the ICC Trophies, IPL, Champions League?”, that he don’t mind repeating everything all over again. And he won’t mind being called a villain sometimes, “You either die a hero or live long enough to see yourself become the villain”, which suits in the case of Dhoni quite correctly.

There’s no doubt his reflexes has slowed down which has affected his batting the most but on the contrary he has taken his wicket keeping skills to the next level. But in my view he still has a lot to give to Indian Cricket and hopefully will lead India upto 2019 World Cup and end on a high. Although I love the way Virat leads Indian Team but just because he is ready doesn’t mean Dhoni should go. It’s all about the Indian Team and how to take this team forward in the right direction which I think it is. Whenever it will be the time, believe me Dhoni himself will be the first one to know about it. Uptill then, just enjoy the things this guy does. whether finishing off the game against Kings X1 Punjab for RPS in the IPL or lifting the leg behind the wicket to stop the edges of the bat. Even if you hate him today, deep down your heart you still believe this guy can win you a game from anywhere and anytime.