It was a crisp and clear afternoon at Rose Hill in paradise island Mauritius. The air was charged as a motley group of Indian expats gathered at the company guest house to watch the finals of the T20 World Cup battle between India and Pakistan. There were senior bankers, CEOs, officers, mediamen and their wives who kept up an amazing supply of the most delectable snacks going around. The setting was perfect, hopes high and in the hands of a long-flowing-haired wicket keeper-captain who had blasted upon the cricket scene of late.
Across the Indian Ocean in South Africa’s Joburg, it was the day Mahendra Singh Dhoni, MSD or fondly Mahi, would write himself into the book of cricketing legends. It was the last over and Pakistan needed 13 runs to win with only one wicket in hand and captain Misbah on strike with a fine 35.
Dhoni was about to surprise all by tossing the ball to a little known medium pacer from Haryana, Joginder Sharma. There was a kind of hush all over the world. But it soon came to be known as the MSD instinct. Joginder’s first ball went wide, the second for a mighty six; it seemed to be all over when a calm Dhoni walked up to Sharma and had a few words. The next ball Misbah scooped it up to be taken cleanly by Sreesanth. It was over; India had won.
Dhoni the captain-cricketer had arrived with his Buddha-like calm and his knack for winning. It was the day when the world of cricket got hooked to MSD much like the hallucinogen LSD. And the high lasted years.
Gut feeling and a sense of timing have always marked Mahendra Singh Dhoni's decisionmaking process in his illustrious captaincy stint and he once again showed that when he stumped one and all with his decision to step down as skipper of India's limited overs team at the very start of 2017.
No one knows whether Dhoni has read the poem 'Invictus' or watched Hollywood actor Morgan Freeman recite it in his deep baritone: "I am the Master of My fate, I am the Captain of My soul". The context of the poem may have been different but in spirit somewhere, Dhoni may find it eerily similar to his thoughts leading up to the decision.
No Indian cricketer since Sunil Gavaskar showed such poise, grace and sense of foresight as the flamboyant cricketer from Jharkhand stepped down from the limited overs captaincy via a BCCI announcement on January 4.
The most clichéd statement we hear from sportspersons is that "we don't play for records" but few believe in it.
But in Dhoni's case, two instances would sum up his philosophy that he does not play for records. When he retired from Test cricket, he was 10 short of completing 100 matches for the country but in his heart, he knew Virat Kohli was ready for the job. Dhoni went with his gut feeling.
Similarly, the first ODI against England on January 15 in Pune would have been his 200th match as captain but he would not bother. 90 and 199 are two telling numbers that tell the story. So, Dhoni did not care for records. He did not care much for the glory either. He always walked away letting his teammates bask in the moment – be it the T20 World Cup or the ICC World Cup where it is hard to find Dhoni among the celebratory pictures. Mahendra Singh Dhoni is as calm and unruffled a sportsman on the field as he is self-effacing off it.
With two World Cups (one 50-over and one T20) India won under his leadership, Dhoni will remain India's greatest limited overs captain and perhaps among India's top five ODI players along with Sachin Tendulkar, Yuvraj Singh, Kapil Dev and Kohli.
Just like a film actor has some defining roles, Dhoni will be remembered for two decisions that made him the 'Captain Cool' for generations to come. The first was giving Joginder Sharma the final over during inaugural T20 World Cup summit clash against Pakistan.
The second was promoting himself ahead of Yuvraj Singh and winning that 2011 World Cup final in Mumbai. It was a man who had the guts and gumption to take decisions which could have gone awry and made him look silly.
There's a bit of gambler in many of us but MSD was a bigger ‘Punter’ than Ricky Ponting ever was. ‘Captain Cool’ or fondly called 'Mahi', Dhoni has rarely been seen angry on the field. Even in times of extreme pressure, he manages to keep his cool and perform, as well as help his team perform.
It's not easy to express one's feelings explicitly when it comes to dropping legends but Dhoni knew that Sourav Ganguly and Rahul Dravid could become liabilities on the field on big Australian grounds and hence he conveyed his feelings to the selection committee before the 2008 CB series. Both Gautam Gambhir and Rohit Sharma were revelations during that series, and that proved Dhoni's decision right.
Dhoni was not a technically gifted batsman but his temperament stood out and the 9110 ODI runs he has scored till now from 283 matches is a testimony of that. He has scored 1112 runs from 73 T20 International matches at an average of 35.87.
A player with a firm bottom hand grip, his signature 'helicopter' shot where he whips the ball in the block hole straight into the stands earned him fans aplenty. But then, how many players know the value of converting one’s into two’s and two’s into three’s.
Once he became captain, he curbed his slam-bang approach, pacing his innings to perfection. On slow sub-continental pitches when others found it difficult to manoeuvre, he did it with elan.
His keeping was questioned at the beginning of his career but in his later years, he developed his own distinctive style. The back flick run-outs are a treat to watch and he has been swift as anyone else on turning tracks.
Dhoni had an aggressive game but not in body language. He believed words like “revenge” are too strong to be used in sports.
And boy, he had a dry sense of humour, very distinctive and his own style. Once David Warner and Ravindra Jadeja had a war of words and Dhoni was asked about it at end of the match. He smiled wryly and said: "That's what happens when schoolboys graduate to college."
And he invited an Australian journalist, who asked about his retirement, on the dais after World T20 semifinal loss. Some found it funny and some rude but then Dhoni is Dhoni.
There's an old YouTube video of Dhoni singing the iconic Mukesh song “Main pal do pal ka shayar hoon” from the Bollywood film “Kabhi Kabhi”.
Well MSD is much more than a “Do pal ka shayar”. He's an entertainer par excellence. He is now running the last lap of his fantastic career. We should all enjoy till it lasts.