What if Wednesday | What if MS Dhoni didn't play the way he did

That is the way to remember MS Dhoni, the charismatic cricketer, keeper and a leader. From the sleepy city of Ranchi, he came to the Indian dressing room as a blessing and jarred the country out of their stubborn ideologies. Yuvi and Viru were surely the stars of the 21st century but Dhoni brought in a sense of identity that was missing - a sense of the small-town dream to make it big in an aspirational field. Forget the reality of December 2004 and a picture would emerge when young cricketers are still fighting inside the barricade to get a glimpse of Indian cricketers in action,  if or ever does the caravan move to any small cities. They would never have any true belief that they could eclipse the corridor once again. Without MS Dhoni, it would have been a dream dying as a dream.

Be it that Vizag 148 or Jaipur 183, MS Dhoni shared a facet of his batting that was not only unique but also effective in its own way. It was the symbol of 21st century India when equity funds started getting preferred over government bonds and start-ups became a new normal to challenge big tycoons. Dhoni came in at the right time to dominate the circuit and his game was based on some purest formula of see-ball-hit-ball approach. He later changed that approach a bit but the originality was never compromised. Imagine had MS Dhoni not happened to Indian cricket and did what he did with sheer disdain for public opinion, players like Rishabh Pant, or this might be stretching a bit, Jasprit Bumrah, wouldn’t have happened at all. The country would long have been the slave of “correct way”.

Sourav Ganguly was great but way too insecure of his own place towards the back end of his career. Rahul Dravid achieved a super Test series win in England but buckled under pressure. Anil Kumble had little time and had it not been for Dhoni, the transition would not have been possible. Indian cricket would have been a slow-burning exercise and not an identical allegory as we know now. Dhoni took India from a promising side to No.1 Test team in the world, 2011 World Cup and 2013 Champions Trophy. An era traversed and the world started to think of the Indian team as a unit and not a clouded side filled with superstars. 

We could go on and on, talking about MS Dhoni’s captaincy limitations too, but wasn’t that beautiful at times? Can you imagine Virat Kohli in the Indian Test side or a Rohit Sharma becoming the limited-overs legend if not for Dhoni’s backing? Another captain would have got rid of them right from the outset and India would have been scrambling for a proper top-order.