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

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

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Time to rethink the alternate universe?

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SportsCafe

So much has already been talked and written about MS Dhoni the enigma, the person, the cricketer, his impact, his rise, his privacy and his unpredictability that it really doesn’t make any sense to add to the list. But isn't it all classic MS Dhoni? Always frictional even when we think he is not.

Then why would we hold ourselves back? Why would we not traverse another alternate universe - a world not big enough to accommodate three ICC Trophies, countless memories and zillion days of fun and romance? Why wouldn’t we track the journey of a life that has come as a real surprise to many while accepting the fact that his absence would have some sort of disaster? 

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”.

Imagine MS Dhoni was not given the captaincy in the 2007 T20 World Cup and it might have been one among Sehwag and Yuvraj. Would they have taken the brave step of asking Joginder Sharma to bowl the deciding over and have a fine leg and sweeper cover at the same time? It is easy to say that in hindsight, but had India failed to win the tournament,  the IPL would probably not have become the commodity it eventually became. Lalit Modi would have happily signed the cheques to make India the destination for everything humongous.

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. 

Think of the batting style once again. Had Dhoni not tampered his style for substance, after Yuvi was dismissed every time, India would have gone 10 years back once again, conceding games with an insane regularity. Wander your mind back to the late 1990s, - Sachin, Ganguly and Dravid would do everything they could, but the team would still hang around #6 and #7 in the ranking table.  It is the consistency of results that India should be thankful to MS Dhoni for. He won more than he lost, he commanded absolute honesty and delivered results out of the blue. 

If not for Dhoni’s promotion in the World Cup final of 2011, the result would have been a foregone conclusion. As always Yuvi would have come in, with a ferocious Muralitharan dismissing him for 10, and the game would be over before anyone realised anything. Instead, Dhoni came in, did what he did, threw Murali out of the equation and landed India its second World Cup final. Would you have anything else for a trade?

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. 

It is the revolution India need to thank MS Dhoni for and it is the parameter of success that would write the legend of Dhoni for years to come. For Indian fans, It is the time to say Thank You, Mahi.

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