MS Dhoni formally retires: Why it will be difficult to find anyone similar to him in the foreseeable future
The year 2020 had just started. The Indian cricket team was on its tour of New Zealand.
In a video taken while the team bus was on the way to Hamilton, Yuzvendra Chahal was seen talking to several members of the squad. Towards the end of the video, he moved to the rear of the bus and pointed to the empty seat, which he said was the former captain’s preferred spot.
“Yeh who seat hai jahan ek legend baithte the, Mahi bhai, Abhi bhi yahan koi naheen baithtaa. Hum unhe bahot miss karte hai (This is the seat that used to be occupied by a legend. MS Dhoni. No one sits here now. We miss him a lot.)’
And now it’s official. The legend will never ever occupy the seat again.
MS Dhoni formally announced his retirement from international cricket when India was celebrating the 73rd year of its independence. Yours truly, exactly two months ago in a column published on Sportskeeda, said:-
‘In all likelihood, MS Dhoni has played his last match for the country and is coming to terms with his new normal’.
I don’t claim to be in touch with him nor am I privy to his decisions in any way whatsoever. But having followed MS Dhoni closely for several years now, I would humbly like to put forth one thing. MS Dhoni may look unpredictable to the conventionalists in the established cricket eco system and the media at large.
But the most predictable thing about him right from day one is that he would not cling to anything when he is convinced that he need not to be there even for a moment. And more importantly, he will not create even a minimal fuss about the same.
Meanwhile, there is the larger unpredictability related to his exit. In the near future, it will be very difficult for someone to occupy the seat to which Yuzvendra Chahal was referring to. Why?
In cricket and in life, we are often warned not to compare two personalities. At the same time, it’s also true that it’s human nature to often fall in this trap. Often, it helps understand the true worth of some personalities.
So ignoring the statutory warning, I offer to fall in the trap. In the post-1991 era, two players who have caught the imagination of the country the most are Sachin Tendulkar and MS Dhoni. And we could better appreciate MS Dhoni as an overall package when we compare both the legends.
Sachin Tendulkar and MS Dhoni: Comparing their early careers
When a teenage Sachin Tendulkar had started making his name in Mumbai cricket, he was instantly recognized and strongly backed by the ecosystem around him.
There was the great Sunil Gavaskar with whom he drew instant comparison, and who famously gifted him with his bat and pad. There was Dilip Vengsarkar to took him to the India nets and asked the best in the sport to have a look at his game.
There was the famous Tom Alter who interviewed the child prodigy and the there were the established names in the Mumbai media who featured him in their stories even when he had not made his debut for the country.
When the man who was born on the beautiful planet to play cricket started establishing himself in the Indian team, Tendulkar had Ravi Shastri, who introduced him to Mark Mascarenhas. An unprecedented financial deal was signed so that Tendulkar could totally focus on cricket.
In nutshell, right from the formative stage of his career, one of the greatest of the game always had someone around him to mentor him, to guide him and to back him so that he could actualise his true potential in terms of performance.
Let us compare this with MS Dhoni. When he started, he played most of his cricket in Jharkhand. The state of Jharkhand and the undivided Bihar before this hardly had produced any international cricketer of repute. If we see the history of Indian cricket, among the five zones, East Zone lags far behind in terms of players representing the country.
So there was hardly any scope of reputed and established names in cricket mentoring him and backing his talent. In fact, his unconventional style of batting and even wicket-keeping was questioned by most experts.
Until he forced his way into India A side and the national team, there was every possibility that he would remain a ticket collector in Kharagpur railway junction. Even when he established himself in the team, there were many who felt that his place is temporary and that he will soon disappear from the scene.
The moment Sachin Tendulkar, established himself as the front-line batsman of the team, he was seen as heir apparent in terms of the leadership position. The only question was when, and there were not any ifs and buts regarding him being the next captain?
Sachin Tendulkar had two tenures as the captain of the Indian team and they were not very successful. Tendulkar was at least twice again offered the leadership role, but he rightly refused and instead decided to focus on his game.
In comparison, MS Dhoni got captaincy by default. Rahul Dravid had convinced the other two senior statesmen of the team, Sachin Tendulkar and Sourav Ganguly, to not go to South Africa in the inaugural T20 World Cup and instead let youngsters get exposure.
MS Dhoni was made the captain of the Indian team. He won the inaugural T20 World Cup. He won the 2011 World Cup. He won 2013 Champions Trophy. Under his captaincy, the Indian team became the No. 1 Test team in the world.
Unfortunately, even then, there were many who tried to undermine his leadership achievements by saying that he was plain lucky and that many of his bizarre moves luckily turned in his favour.
As the sports editor of a reputed television network then, I could say with a degree of authority that many of his critics comprise of reputed former cricketers, and even some of his team mates who perhaps did not recognize the strength of this unique phenomena. Yes, he was fortunate, but fortune favors the brave.
When the Indian Premier League came, Sachin Tendulkar was rightly one of the icon players. Tendulkar (Mumbai Indians), Sourav Ganguly (Kolkata Knight Riders), Rahul Dravid (Royal Challengers Bangalore) and Yuvraj Singh (Kings XI Punjab) were initially included in the icon players category.
Despite being the captain of the Indian team who led his side to the victory in the inaugural T20 World Cup, Dhoni was from Jharkhand and thus did not have the advantage of a franchise which could be his natural base.
Sachin Tendulkar captained the Mumbai Indians, but could not lead his team to the championship position. MS Dhoni was adopted by the Chennai Super Kings and he seamlessly identified with their brand. Today, brand Dhoni and brand CSK seem to be inseparable.
Despite their two-year suspension from the IPL, Chennai Super Kings under the leadership of MS Dhoni have lifted the IPL title thrice, have the best win percentage amongst all IPL teams and hold the record for the most appearances in the playoffs (ten) and the final (eight).
In addition, under him, Chennai Super Kings have also won the Champions League T20 in 2010 and 2014. Is this also sheer luck or by fluke?
The lack of fanfare surrounding MS Dhoni's retirement was inevitable
Sachin Tendulkar was the poster boy of Indian sports for our generation. When India finally got rid of the license-quota-permit raj in 1991, he was the icon of the emerging Indian middle class, who through him got the confidence that they could compete with the best in the world.
He was the darling of the Indian diaspora who had been able to find their feet across the globe and were exposed to the towering sporting icons in their adopted countries. In Sachin Tendulkar, they could find one who could be called somehow distantly near to the Lionel Messis, the Michael Phelps, the Roger Federers and the Usain Bolts of the world.
We rightly gave him one of the most moving and brilliantly televised farewells in the place and time of his choice.
"My life has been between 22 yards for 24 years and it’s hard to believe my wonderful journey is coming to an end" still gives the same goosebumps to our generation which Nehru’s ‘Tryst with Destiny’ speech gave to the country’s freedom eve generation.
The icing on the cake was when the rules for conferring the highest civilian award of the country, the Bharat Ratna, were amended and Sachin Tendulkar became the first sportsperson in history to get the award. The Master Blaster was also nominated for the Rajya Sabha.
In stark comparison, MS Dhoni retired suddenly and without any paraphernalia from Test cricket. On 30th December, 2014, Dhoni was batting on 24 when the Test was called off early at the MCG. Dhoni made no mention of the retirement during the customary captain’s press conference at the end of the match.
The announcement was made via a BCCI press release shortly after and it read:
'One of India’s greatest Test captains under whose leadership India became the No. 1 team in the Test rankings, MS Dhoni has decided to retire from Test cricket citing the strain of playing all formats of cricket. Virat Kohli will be the captain of the Indian team for the fourth and final Test against Australia to be played in Sydney.'
There were many even then who criticized him for retiring in the middle of the series and for not taking red-ball cricket seriously.
MS Dhoni continued leading the team in the shorter format of the game. But he passed on the baton to Virat Kohli in ODIs so that the Delhi man gets sufficient time to get a hang of the things ahead of the 2019 World Cup in England. While Kohli was leading the side, Dhoni was mentoring him as the leader and hand-holding the rest of the side as an elder brother.
The best finisher of the game was all set to finish his career in style. Had he pulled off the victory from the jaws of defeat in the semi-final match versus New Zealand, which he has done so many times in his career, maybe Kohli's India would have given him the same farewell which Dhoni’s team India gave to Sachin Tendulkar in 2011 World Cup. But this was not to be.
The entire cricket ecosystem stated clamouring for his formal retirement announcement. In fact, this is understandable, for we have got so used to paraphernalia in our cricket ecosystem. After every series, there was a round of speculation about his next move, but MS Dhoni had decided to fade away without creating any fuss.
Perhaps if IPL 2020 would have been in time and he was convinced of his touch, he would have liked to give the T20 World Cup in Australia a shot. This again was not to be. His formal retirement from international cricket was inevitable.
These things hardly matter to him, as was clear from the Instagram post which announced his retirement: "Thanks a lot for ur love an support throughout. From 1929 hrs consider me as Retired."
Will we ever find another MS Dhoni?
We may find more explosive batsmen than him in the near future. We have a more agile wicket-keeper when compared to him. We may even have a more successful leader than him. Hoping against hope, we may also find a better finisher than him.
But rest assured, as a complete package, it will be near impossible to find another MS Dhoni. In my career as a sports journalist, I have been lucky enough to interview Sachin Tendulkar at least thrice after he has reached an important milestone.
On the other hand, though I have been there at ground zero when Team India under Dhoni won the T20 World Cup in 2007, the World Cup in 2011 and the Champions Trophy in 2013, I have not been able to interview him one-on-one even once.
And almost similar has been the case with almost everyone in the mainstream media. Dhoni has been largely allergic in terms of appearing for television interviews.
Amid this backdrop, if India has to graduate beyond the Tendulkar era and find substantive world class sporting icons at par with the Michael Phelps, the Roger Federers, the Cristiano Ronaldos and the Usain Bolts of the world, we need to identify, recognize and respect more Dhonis spread across the far-flung and non-traditional centers of the country.
They will be achieving what looks unachievable today, for they will come without baggage and play without any paraphernalia attached. It does look difficult to find another player like MS Dhoni in foreseeable future. But who knows?
Till then, till I breathe my last on the beautiful planet, I would say with pride to my kids that I also happen to be from Jharkhand, which gave India the incredible MS Dhoni.