MS Dhoni: The calmness before the storm
The old vintage Mahi is back. Besieged by a hit in form in 2018, MS Dhoni had allowed himself to believe that there were now things he could not do, that being the senior statesman meant he had to impose limitations on himself.
His power of reading the game, like his other powers, is substantial. Dhoni became polite to bowlers, sometimes made them look better than they were, he nudged the ball and placed it gently. It was like the Bachchan of Deewar playing the Bachchan of Alaap. He was very good at it, but it wasn't him.
The trance had to break someday, he had to cast aside his suit and put on his sneakers again. He had to rediscover himself, look into the mirror and realize that the man looking back at him was thirty-seven, not forty-five.
It was a liberated Dhoni that walked out to bat this year, the one who had overcome the burdens he had imposed on himself. This was the child again, the same joyous little boy with his toys; he skipped from one dinky car to the other, pulled out the remote-controlled bike and cheerfully sprayed the world with his water pistol.
He played ferocious hits again, lofted the fast bowler, teasingly lapped the ball to fine leg and unleashed the mighty long sixes.
It happens to the best of players. The mind is made up and the instinct is buried. They seek to become conformists, from making the rules we bow to them. Sometimes they grow weary with battle, the next conquest becomes daunting. They start looking at obstacles rather than opportunities, worry about getting out rather than thinking of scoring runs; once again they see the fielders and not the gaps between them.
They need to be convinced about their own skills. They own them but they don't trust them anymore; that is when the environment becomes critical. Stars who are surrounded by people who tell them they can do no wrong start stagnating because fresh thought doesn't reach them anymore, the contrary view becomes outlawed, even unpardonable.
Something broke Dhoni's defensive mindset. Maybe he did it himself, maybe he listened to someone and agreed with it, but the end result was that he drove past his own barriers. The journey was thrilling, it was almost as if the result didn't matter. Thus, he also played the shots he wouldn't have played earlier.
Now, teams will be worried. He may still get out early, he may still miscue shots, he still might not be able to finish the game for India, that cheeky run might be nipped by the direct hit but he now seeks to dominate, which is what he was born to do.
He sees himself as the striker again, not the mid-fielder who feeds the ball.
As the captain, Virat Kohli couldn't have asked for more. Indeed he made a handsome contribution himself, by sticking with Dhoni even if he failed consistently and was unable to dominate opposition like he used to. But it was typical of the man that looks at the wider picture; to remind people that on another day not everything might come off, that Dhoni is still a batsman who can bat well. All captains look good when Dhoni is at his best.
Indeed the magnificent Adam Gilchrist might play the kind of innings that Dhoni does, Kumar Sangakkara might show off his skills and the wicketkeeper's lapses might prove to be costly. Catches might fall a foot farther away and run-outs might be missed.
But Dhoni has yet again made a beginning and it is a bold one. He will stumble but if he wants to rise, this is the only way. He is still a vital cog for the Indian team in the World Cup with his experience and the ability to read his opponent's mindset.