Sport | Cricket
Dhoni wants to be best on and off the field
The flamboyant one-day captain knows he can't go on like this for long, and he is prepared for it
- By Prithvi Anand, Special to Gulf News
- Published: 00:03 September 8, 2008
For the second week running, Mahendra Singh Dhoni is No 1 ODI batsman in the world. Next four weeks could also be his as there is no international cricket scheduled. Indeed since 2007 World Cup, Dhoni has been world's most consistent bat. It's time he is given his dues.
But then what else remains of his dues? He rules the advertising world in India and is its hottest star, on par with those of celluloid kind.
He earned the highest bid in the Indian Premier League (IPL). He decides on who plays for India in shorter formats of the game. He even has the freedom to pull out of a tour, utterly contemptuous of the fear that somebody else could take his spot.
His female fan following gets him the protection of the ladies' security force. The highest sporting award of the country; talk of a national stamp issued in his honour makes him the phenomenon of our times. Test captaincy could be his with the snap of a finger.
Interestingly, Dhoni still invites scorn from a sizeable number. He is termed vindictive to seniors; his captaincy skills viewed as highly over-rated; his batting skill unproven on bouncier tracks of Australia and South Africa. The whispers from the dressing room suggest an autocrat.
His manipulative skills are legendary. A man with no apparent failings, Dhoni baffles the powers that be who are in business of shaping or tampering the destiny of lesser beings. So far it's all been on his terms - nobody dares cross his path.
Total control
And it's all because he has delivered. As a captain and as a batsman. Since last World Cup, he has played and scored more runs than anyone else - 1806 runs from 51 games at an average of 51.60.
If he was previously flamboyant, he is now more circumspect yet no less successful. A website tells us he had 1987 runs before 2007 World Cup, inclusive of 161 fours and 63 sixes. Since then has hit 137 fours and 27 sixes in his 1805 additional runs.
If the average of boundaries in pre-World Cup days was 51.47 per cent of all his runs; it's now 39.31. His strike-rate prior to World Cup was 98.51. It has now dropped down to 84.51. Yet all this has mattered to his team immensely. He has chosen to earn the respect of his mates rather than be lulled by the adulation of the masses.
His benchmark for commitment are a tough act to follow. He was extremely sick before the fourth one-dayer against Sri Lanka recently, yet was at the forefront to guide India to a never-before series win. His fingers were broken at more than one place, yet he chose to play the final game even though it was an inconsequential tie.
Impressive results
In between there was a game where his back gave away and a match-winning innings was largely constructed in aid with a runner. It's a common sight to see him get medical aid on the field. Yet he presses on with impressive results. His is an impression of an unshakeable will.
Quite a few things don't matter to him. In one, rare unguarded moment to this reporter in Australia last year, Dhoni had confided: "I know I won't last long. It would be humanely impossible to do so with the amount of cricket being played. So I am not planning long. It's better thus to follow what I believe is right. Trust me, Rs 50,000 (1100 US dollars) a month from my employers (Air India) is more than good to me. I don't need much to survive."
With this attitude, Dhoni doesn't fit into the usual pattern of a sportsman. Not for him the need to cultivate media. Indeed, he feels media is quite unnecessary.
"We don't need you," has been his terse message on more than one occasion. Famously in Australia, he refused to convey best wishes to Under-19 World Cup team in Kuala Lumpur through media.
"If I have to wish them, I don't need you. I would pick up the phone and tell them so. I don't have to go through you," Dhoni had said to a stunned television reporter.
In his book, only three things matter: your performance, your captain and selectors. The rest are inconsequential.
Dhoni does not rest on his laurels and unlimited flow of cash. He has to be best in his vocation: be it in cricket or life thereafter.
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