Captain's innings

M S Dhoni has emerged as the new and winning face of Indian cricket.

These are happy days for Indian cricket. India has just knocked over the number one team in the world in thumping fashion, in the process recording the biggest win in India’s 76-year-old cricketing history. Sachin Tendulkar became the leading run-scorer in Test cricket and Sourav Ganguly hit a gritty century in his farewell series. The man at the centre of this euphoria is Mahendra Singh Dhoni, also known as MSD.

Hosannas are being sung from every nook and corner of India. Past and present players and selectors are waxing eloquent about the man they say is destined to preside over a new dawn in Indian cricket.

It’s not breaking news that MSD has been hailed as the new face of Indian cricket. A man who won the World Cup (never mind if it was T20), a man who leads from the front, backs youngsters to the hilt and delivers what fans crave most — success. We know it’s just a matter of time before Dhoni is officially handed the reins of Indian cricket in all formats of the game. His record speaks for himself. He has so far had a good run as an ODI captain, almost at par with two of India’s most successful captains, Mohammed Azharuddin and Sourav Ganguly.

So far so good. What Dhoni did from the day he was named captain was to make it clear to the men running the show that he wanted “his” team. Out went the seniors, barring Sachin Tendulkar, who is of course in a league of his own.

Both Rahul Dravid and Sourav Ganguly were shown the door in a not-so-amicable manner, and

V V S Laxman never was an integral part of the ODI plans, so dropping him was never really an “issue”. MSD backed unknown talents like Joginder Sharma, Pravin Kumar and the latest, Amit Mishra. All these players hail from small towns. A new India was being created, and Dhoni was the man penning the charter of its constitution.

The most crucial factor in Dhoni’s stint as captain has been Lady Luck, who if you are fortunate enough to court in cricket might show her pearly whites once in a while. But in the case of Dhoni she has been grinning from ear to ear, and that too on a regular basis.

Former cricketer Roger Binny agrees. “He has been lucky, but then again he has been brave to take decisions which others might have been apprehensive about. Like, he backed first Sharma to bowl the crucial final over, and then put his faith in the unknown yet effective Praveen Kumar.”

The T20 final could have gone either way. Not many would agree, but it was Pakistan that snatched defeat from the jaws of victory. The other major feather in Dhoni’s cap was the tri-series win in Australia, which India won for the first time. In Sri Lanka, he led the team to the ODI-series victory after the debacle in tests under Anil Kumble.

Purists will argue that Dhoni has not yet cemented his credentials as a Test captain, and rightly so. Although two wins out of two might reflect a 100 per cent strike rate, the waters still remain untested for him. He hasn’t had a full series under his belt, be it home or away.

Let’s face it, even though the Aussies are still number one, they seem to have lost their aura of invincibility. That team now has the weakest bowling line-up they have had in decades.

Bigger names have crumbled under the pressure of being the captain of the Indian cricket team in Test matches. Rahul Dravid is the latest. Dhoni has shown that he has a mature head and strong shoulders to carry this burden.

But while there is nothing wrong in swaying the way the wind is blowing, let’s not get carried away by the overdose of praise being showered on Dhoni. As former wicketkeeper Syed Kirmani puts it, “He has shown that he has got what it takes to be the captain, but let’s not burden him with too much pressure.” Binny says that judging Dhoni as captain would be right only when he leads the team on an away tour.

Being a wicketkeeper captain has a lot of advantages, and Kirmani says that this has been a crucial factor. “A keeper can read the game much better than anyone else, and that has definitely helped Dhoni.”

The next few months are going to be crucial for Indian cricket. One of the old-timers has already called it quits, and the rest might just follow soon. There will be a period of transition, as their replacements still haven’t faced the pressures of representing India in the Test arena.

Although Dhoni has shown that he has the ability to face the challenges, it will be interesting to see if Lady Luck continues to be generous with destiny’s favourite child.