Why Dhoni should be admired and not be admonished?

He came in looking like a brash, arrogant, care-free batsman whose only intention on the crease was to hit towering sixers and earth scorching boundaries. The purists didn’t like him, the people who wanted unadulterated entertainment adored him. In no time, the Indian Captaincy beckoned, Dhoni took it up with sheer grit and willingness. He had his own fair share of successes, while the critics were constantly monitoring each of his moves to showcase what he isn’t doing right.

A couple of days back after India lost to the Proteas (a match which we dominated mostly), I looked at my facebook page and could sense furious comments and ridicules towards MS. Agreed, he makes a few crucial mistakes, but Does he deserve a total blank out due to them? Do we have such a short-term memory? Are we being just? In my opinion, Dhoni deserves a much better deal and treatment for his contributions already (though he is still some way away from being finished)

Here is my take on a few parameters and happenings during Dhoni’s Captaincy career, to illustrate why I rate Dhoni to be better than how others do!

Choosing Nehra to bowl the last over:

Many of us are angry with his choice of going with Ashish Nehra in the last over, when Harbhajan had an over remaining. We all speak in hindsight, after the match is over. What would have happened if Ashish had used a little of his brains and not bowled that poor 2nd delivery which Robin Peterson actually swept over mid-wicket. Had he found his mark and his the blockhole and won the match for India, will we be complaining about Dhoni’s choice today? We wouldn’t. Because I remember, Harbhajan had his 4th over un-bowled when a certain Joginder was asked to bowl in Johanesburg and we all know what happened after that. When Joginder can why not Nehra? I can recall at least two matches (1 and 2) where Ashish Nehra has bowled the last over and helped us defend a total successfully. My memory doesn’t bring me one instance when Bajji has done it? Prove me wrong!

My friend Shankar (who for some reason doesn’t appreciate Dhoni) told, that was nothing to do with Dhoni’s captaincy, it was poor batting by Misbah which won the match for India. I can tell you, 8 out of 10 dismissals in cricket we see each day is a batsman’s mistake. A very small fraction is caused by a brilliant delivery or a fabulous catch. Mostly its poor shot selection or an improper execution that causes a batsman’s downfall. Having said that, no way I’m calling it a master-stroke from Dhoni but he still deserves some applause for choosing Joginder over Bajji.


Many say he is extremely lucky and all his moves are influenced by good fortune. Now that's questionable!!! Luck can support you to some extent, beyond that he has to be doing something right to get the desired results. I wouldn’t even call him lucky because the earliest part of the match where luck can be involved is ‘The TOSS’ and we all know how frequently Dhoni wins a toss.

I have to admit, his team selection has been poor and ordinary. I am not sure how he could justify the inclusion of Munaf in the team who always looks like being forced to play. I’m not sure if Munaf understands either the rules of the game or Sciences. You simply can’t collect a throw with your legs, you simply can’t. Playing Piyush Chawla over Ashwin and persisting with an under-performing bunch of medium pacers are beyond my level of understanding.

Our winning record:

Every one of you, who thinks Dhoni isn’t the right one to lead India, should check his winning ratio. Let’s face it, as a team we have always been mediocre and have never looked like world beaters until MSD took over. We are the number one team in the World in Test Matches, how many times have we been there before? He has been a touch fortunate on this regard, that Sachin, Laxman and a few others have had their best years when Dhoni has been the Skipper. Speaking about Sachin’s batting form, his ODI performances have gone up by a few notches after MS took over (actually the turnaround started in the England series, Rahul’s last). Not many of us thought the Master would be playing in the 2011 WC, but here he is still at his best. We won the tri-series in Australia in 2008 - In the same tournament in earlier years we have been brutally thrashed by Australia, I have witnessed the pain. We won a few tournament finals including the T20 WC and the Asia Cup, whereas our record in cup finals have been nothing short of horrifying between 2000 and 2007 (under different captains, obviously).


Why did Dhoni curtail his aggressive batting?

When he first came into the team, he was merely a swashbuckling batsman with decent keeping skills. He was frequently promoted to increase the run-rate when we had grafters like Kaif, Dravid etc. He had absolutely no pressure to consolidate the innings and therefore he displayed real aggression. Also, he was part of the ODI squad alone (that too not always) and that allowed him to play audacious Helicopter shots paying scant respect to fitness concerns. Soon he became a regular in Test Matches, became a captain in all three formats and that increased the importance for him to stay fit. The number of flamboyant batsmen around him increased and Dhoni realized the need to curb his instincts and play with more caution (remember, he is still a great runner between the wickets and rotates strike outstandingly). He has toned himself down only due to the responsibilities he has and not the selfish motive a few people talk about.

The act of doing what he thinks is right...

In the middle of year 2008, India were scheduled to tour Srilanka for a Test Match Series. Having gone through the rigours of the tour of Australia and followed by the IPL, Dhoni opted out of the SL tour citing fatigue as a reason. A few would argue that Dhoni was scared, but I’m not really bothered about the few because he has proved himself against the Lankan spinners many times afterwards. What we should appreciate here is, he had the courage to come up and ask for an exclusion when he very well knows that his place in the Test XI is all but certain. I haven’t seen anyone else in the Indian line-up who has declared himself as unfit. They go all the way and fail the fitness test, hours before the toss, leaving the team plans in jeopardy. MS didn’t do that.


Dhoni wanted a young and energetic One Day team when he took over with Rohit Sharma, Uthappa, Chawla, RP Singh, Dinesh Kaarthick etc in his line up. He was man enough to sideline men like Rahul Dravid and Saurav Ganguly from the ODI set-up, who were once great limited over players but not anymore. India reaped rich benefits due to fresh and younger legs, winning a few tournaments little sporadically though. But at the moment, they are going backwards with the inclusion of slow movers in the form of Zaheer, Nehra and Munaf. I’m hopeful Dhoni and company would address this concern at the earliest.

The fighter and the learner...

All of us talk about his ODI batting exploits, but his greatest moment so far as a Test player was his painstaking 76* he played against England at Lords. The home team had over 2 sessions to snap up the last 5 wickets and take a 1-0 lead, when Dhoni walked in. He soon lost the most reliable VVS and still he held on. Our fate was hanging in the thinnest of threads when rain came to our rescue, but Dhoni was largely instrumental in India being still batt(l)ing till that point. We went on to win the series 1-0, our first in England for 21 years. Even the man himself wouldn’t have thought that he could play such a vital innings at that point in time in his career - but he did!


His keeping was never brilliant in his initial years and he was in the team largely due to his batting skills. Not anymore, he has consistently improved his wicket keeping and he is right there among the best for spinners. His no-back lift stumpings have been so frequent and important in recent times. In similar terms with his batting, his keeping can never be elegant and pretty, but it’s the effectiveness that counts and Dhoni’s certainly is.

I’ll conclude telling Dhoni does make mistakes, but his mistakes are far and few in between. He does more right that wrong. He is brave, gambles efficiently, down-to-earth, rarely goes overboard when the team wins, never allows success enter his head, backs his team and gives the long rope to deserving people, believes in potential, plays the game fair and is disciplined!

Being the Indian Cricket team’s captain is no easy deal, you are scrutinized at every corner and wide-mouthed critics are waiting to knock you down in every wake of life - With a demanding and uncompromising crowd following you, you have to develop a winning attitude and that is exactly what Dhoni has tried to do with Team India. I’m sure a few wouldn’t agree with me, but I’m certain many would.

He owes a lot of thanks to Gary Kirsten, due to leave shortly and his beloved team mates who have been massively supportive and instrumental for all his successes. He really will be! Long may it continue!