MS Dhoni - A leader to take to the trenches with you

MS Dhoni was a captain from his own book

After I finished my engineering a couple of years back, I never for once thought I would become a writer, let alone a sports writer.

In the two years that I have been at this job, I have realised it can sometimes get your emotions running high. I experienced it when in 2014, I wrote about Steven Gerrard announcing his decision to leave Liverpool. I am a Manchester United fan, but somewhere, I had a little amount of respect for Gerrard for the way he stuck with the Reds.

On the 4th of January 2017, I can't thank the gods enough for not keeping me at my workplace. Why? Because I may have burst out in tears if I were to write the news that broke last night.

A character like MS Dhoni does that to you.

He isn't your quintessential, orthodox cricketer and he never will be. We all love him for that, admire him for that.

For the last 9 years, we were used to team sheets reading, "MS Dhoni(C & WK)". Not anymore. In a decision that can be explained only by him, Dhoni gave up captaincy on Wednesday night and set an entire nation of supporters into mourning.

The manner should not surprise anyone. Instead, it is exactly the way we thought he might go, with the board releasing a PR, stating he has called it quits. That is his style. That is the way he has played the game. Emotions in his face are as rare as a certain politician in India's capital taking a thoughtful decision.

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I have no doubt in my mind that 10 years down the line, when an all-time World ODI and T20I XI is picked, Dhoni will be in the team as captain and wicket-keeper. He is without a doubt an all-time great in the limited-overs format and will leave a legacy, that perhaps would be unmatched in Indian cricket.

There is a reason why we enjoyed Dhoni the captain. He was his own man. The rule book didn't exist to him. The experts didn't exist for him nor did the newspapers. He was his own teacher and his own pupil.

Many cricketers have Dhoni to thank for their success

There are many qualities about Dhoni which separated him from the rest. The manner in which he backed the youth, the way he took several decisions based on his gut feel, his own ability to take the game till the end and pull it off.  

The Joginder Sharma decision from the 2007 World T20 final, the Ishant Sharma gamble from the 2013 Champions Trophy final, his own promotion in the 2011 World Cup Final and several other moments really put Dhoni in a different spectrum, as compared to some of the other leaders.

The thing I will miss the most about Dhoni – the leader – is how he lifted his counterparts when everything was against them. In future, if ever anyone asked me, what was his greatest triumph as captain? I would not blink an eyelid and say the Champions Trophy win of 2013.

Leading an inexperienced team is one thing, but putting faith on a team of rookie bowlers, an area where India bleed so much and providing them with the confidence to deliver deserves a medal of the highest order.

India went to the event on the back of a terrible spot-fixing scandal that had rocked the game and the manner in which Dhoni isolated the side from all the off-field happenings and got them to focus on the job at hand, requires every adjective that can be associated with the highest level of praise to be bestowed upon him.

Virat Kohli has big shoes to fill when he leads the team in ODIs and T20s

That for me will be Kohli's biggest task right now. Can he, in the worst of times, galvanise a team like Dhoni did?

At the moment, he is going through a great phase, but the tide will change at some point and it is then that we will see whether he can be as good as Dhoni.

Past greats always speak highly about cricketers earning recognition when they do well in Test cricket. Dhoni was different in that regard as well. While he respected the longer format, he was not overawed by it and brought out his A-game to the fore more in coloured clothing than in the whites.

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The shorter formats suited his style of cricket. He could afford to be street smart, he could afford to be cheeky in bowling changes, in field placements, unlike in Test Cricket where a lot more method was needed to push for a result.

Dhoni’s biggest strength in limited-overs was that he had the players, who also enjoyed playing in the Blue for India. At their prime, the likes of Suresh Raina, Ravindra Jadeja, and Rohit Sharma gave some excellent performances under Dhoni’s leadership and that helped Dhoni’s case a great deal.

Now that he is done with captaincy across all three formats, Dhoni will have the opportunity to work on his batting, try and get back his explosive style of play and lead India to may more wins.

Thanks MS for all the memories as captain of India. Hope you provide us with many more as a keeper-batsman in the coming years.