For the love of the road

Personality : The World Cup has underlined M S Dhoni's approach of focusing on the journey, not the destination

There was no more than a twirl of the bat in the form of celebration when MS Dhoni sealed India’s 2011 World Cup triumph with a massive six. He plucked a stump as a souvenir, received a tight hug from an emotional Yuvraj Singh and quickly slipped into the background.

He allowed his younger team-mates and Sachin Tendulkar, who was playing his last Cup match, hog all the limelight. And he wasn’t going to shed tears, as a section of the Indian media wanted him to do so, in front of cameras when India were stopped in their tracks in the semifinal by Australia.

Dhoni isn’t given to dramatics. He maintains certain equanimity in highs and lows, triumphs and tragedies. Losses do disappoint him but do not deflate him and wins are important to him but not imperative. Dhoni, as the captain of the Indian team, has won more than anyone could dream of but his greatest legacy isn’t as much about what he achieved as it’s about the way he redefined captaincy. He isn’t perfect but who is? He is unorthodox yet quite effective, something that’s similar to his style of keeping wickets. You don’t claim a No 1 ranking in Tests (2009), a World T20 title (2007), a World Cup (2011), a Champions Trophy (2013) and 100 ODI wins without being a good leader.

Dhoni’s leadership qualities haven’t always been obvious because of their subtleties. He is not into his bowlers’ ears after each ball and he rarely makes a show of his anger when mistakes are committed. He doesn’t believe in being animated on the field just to appear proactive. Mohammad Shami, who transformed himself into India’s pace spearhead in the World Cup, best summed up Dhoni’s captaincy.

“I am always free and I have never been tensed when he has captained the side,” he had said during the course of India’s campaign in this World Cup. “He is not someone who demands certain things from me. He is someone who has always told me about my mistakes and asked me not to repeat them in the future. He never gets angry. He will tell you things very calmly and handles the situation well which helps a bowler. The support of the captain and backing of your captain despite making mistakes is very important and he does that. It has been a plus point for me that I have played and made my debut under him.”

This calm approach can be seen in his batting as well. From a see-ball-hit-ball mindset at the start of his career to becoming one of the finest finishers in ODIs, Dhoni reinvented himself as a batsman. His unflustered image even in the face of stiff targets gives you an impression that he isn’t affected by the task at hand but he reveals he too is prone to tensions and emotions. Just that he masks them better than anyone else.      

 “My batting, I have tuned it up a lot after the 2006 tour of Pakistan,” pointed out Dhoni. “I have consistently batted lower down after that. My slot was after 30 overs. I had to improvise according to the demands. Sometimes chasing and sometimes batting first; sometimes playing big shots and while stabilising. I have never batted with a fixed mindset, I have not been rigid.

I have batted according to the demands of the team and the situation. Because of that, I have benefitted. Everyone says I don’t feel pressure. I feel the same pressure as others but it’s just that I have been in those situations a lot, so I know how to get out of that situation. But it’s not that I will always succeed. But when you know the reason, it becomes easier. Very satisfying, so long as the team wins, it is all good,” he explained.

Dhoni may not have always quite pleased the purists because he often came across as someone who didn’t care much about Test cricket but nothing can be farther from the truth. As much as he loves one-day cricket, and he has made no bones about it, he took great pride in winning Tests. But sadly, a series of overseas defeats diminished his aura as a Test captain. Notwithstanding the fact that India reached the No 1 ranking in Tests under him, history will judge Dhoni’s legacy in the longer version on the basis of the heavy defeats in England and Australia during his tenure.

 What, however, will not be remembered is how he allowed the younger batting crop to grow in confidence by demoting himself down the order when he could so easily have enhanced his statistics by walking in at No 3 or 4 on regular basis in ODIs.

“You know, frankly for me, it doesn't really matter,” said Dhoni when asked about how he thinks the history will judge him. “For me every time I turn up, for me what's important is to do something special so that I can be part of or I can contribute to the win. The top order has done really well, so at times I don't really get the opportunity. What we have seen is I've been part of a series where I've not actually got to bat.

I feel that was a step that I took once I realised that it's more difficult for the newcomers to come and bat into the Indian team. If they start batting at 5 and 6, the problem was they are not getting the maturity that's really needed because more often than not in the subcontinent you don't have enough chance to bat the last 10 overs. You need close to 70, 80 or 90 games to get the same kind of experience, but we started batting them up.

“Suresh Raina was the one we had to push back because he's a special talent and he can do that walk-off batting at 5 and 6. I had to push myself back so that Virat (Kohli), Rohit (Sharma)and Ajinkya (Rahane) could bat up the order. It doesn't really suit if we bat up and Ajinkya has to do the job of Suresh Raina or my job batting at 6. It won't really pay off. But overall the health of the batting line-up is good if Ajinkya is batting at 4, Raina at 5, me at 6. It was a conscious attempt to make sure that all these youngsters bat up the order.

Apart from that, what people think about me as a player or what I have done, it doesn't really matter because I play for the enjoyment of the game, and I don't really have to do anything with the amount of runs I have scored. The day I pack my bags I pack it, and I'll be happy on my bike,” he offered.