Dear Mahendra Singh Dhoni,
Contrary to popular belief, my dislike for you wasn’t from the beginning. Even now, I don’t hate you.
What I hate is the idea that has been perpetrated that you are the best. Because sadly, you’re not. For a couple of years in the late-2000s, you probably were (in limited overs cricket), but that’s about it.
However, your impact and contribution to Indian cricket is matched by few. You’re a limited-overs legend in your own right, and arguably the best finisher the game has seen.
My first memory of you was that magnificent 183* against Sri Lanka in Jaipur. I was convinced you was going to go past 200 and beyond in that game.
Then came the T20 World Cup 2007. With all the veterans stepping away, you were made captain. That turned out to be a masterstroke, because the very format of T20 required unconventional thinking. So all the decisions you took, like sitting down in front of the stumps for the bowl-out, or giving the final over to Joginder Sharma instead of Harbhajan Singh, just clicked.
And a fine, young team beat all odds to win the tournament. Having faced the bitter disappointment of 2003 (and 2007 just a few months ago), I was elated at experiencing a World Cup victory. You, with your sleeveless jersey, long locks and swagger, were my hero.
Then you went from strength to strength. The team hadn’t had a quality Test wicketkeeper for years, and you made a place for yourself in the Test side on the basis of your limited overs accomplishments. With Kumble on his last legs, you captained the Test team in two of the four matches against Australia, won both of them, and shortly became the permanent all-format captain. I bought into it at the time, despite your lack of batting credentials or technique in Test cricket (you were flamboyant and won games, that’s all that mattered!).
What followed was the best few years for the Indian team and for you as a player too. The team rose to #1 in the Test rankings on the back of strong home performances, multiple ODI series wins home and away, and you looked like you could do no wrong.
2nd April 2011. The six that sent India into jubilation. That moment was the pinnacle of my love for you, as I’m sure is the case for most people. Your team had healed the wounds of 2003 and had given Tendulkar the most fitting farewell that anyone could ask for (the fact that he did not retire then is another matter altogether).
And that is when the first murmurs about how you won the World Cup “single-handedly” started. Yet, I loved you no matter what, and I spent all of April 2011 replaying that final a hundred times.
It seemed that you had achieved everything possible. But by then I’d grown to realise that what matters most is Test cricket. And your #1 ranked team hadn’t really won anything overseas.
Then the England tour happened. Dravid had the best series of his career. But we got whitewashed 4-0. You seemed unfazed. It stung, and I thought it’s just the hangover from the World Cup win, and I still bought into your ‘process over results’ mantra.
Six months later, Australia. Same score. 4-0. A colossal batting and bowling failure. The team landed in India and Dravid retired immediately. The man who had the best series of his career a short while back had had enough. Laxman was unceremoniously dumped right before the next series.
Any self-respecting captain would have stepped down then. Two 4-0 whitewashes, two legends had retired, Sehwag’s and Gambhir’s careers were on their last legs, and yet there was no change in captaincy. The Test team suffered its darkest period between the 2011 and 2015 World Cups. In addition to the whitewashes, your team lost series in South Africa, New Zealand, England away (again) and the biggest one of them all, to England at home. Even your fortress was not protected anymore.
But there didn’t seem to be any criticism against you at all. I don’t know of any captain in any country’s history who has gone through such a lean patch and not stepped down. It’s unheard of. Then, when you finally did resign, we were trailing 1-0 in yet another Australia tour with two games to play. Stepping down was bundled with Test retirement. To retire in the middle of the toughest overseas series that you’re already trailing in without giving any notice to your would-be successor (as captain and wicketkeeper) is unprofessional and selfish. And yet, here you were, being praised for your decision to leave without fanfare. What fanfare can one expect from a strictly mediocre Test player, and an even more mediocre Test captain on the back of 5 humiliating overseas Test series losses?
Those two years completely shattered my image of you, and I have not yet been able to forgive you.
For taking Indian Test cricket to an all-time low.
For not stepping down gracefully when you should have.
For making senior players, legends of the game, be subject to the humiliation of a rotation policy, which had no foundation, and which you conveniently let go of when it suited you.
For wanting to drop senior players because they weren’t scoring quickly, but not applying that yardstick for yourself in the last few years.
Along with that, the illusion that paid PR, the media, and the blind fans perpetrated had alienated me from you even more. It had already started after the 2011 World Cup, but the heights that it had reached has been nauseating.
“Dhoni single-handedly won three ICC tournaments “ – without having a single notable contribution except that 91*
Any wicket is taken by a bowler after a field change – “It was Dhoni’s tips that led to the bowler bowling that way”
Any DRS taken / not taken – “Dhoni Review System”
The team wins under Kohli’s captaincy – “Dhoni is the de-facto captain of the team”
The team loses under Kohli’s captaincy – “If Dhoni was captain we would have won”
Dhoni scores at a sub-par strike rate – “It was the need of the hour, Dhoni akela kya karega”
Dhoni comes to the crease when 7 is needed of 20 balls and remains not out – “And Dhoni finishes yet another chase”
Dhoni gets caught in match-fixing scandal – “He is clean – he has been framed”
Dhoni doesn’t play domestic cricket, is out of form, and yet walks into the team – “It’s his choice, he can play what he wants to play”
Even your biopic had no mention of any of your mistakes, or the team’s bad performances under you. As far as I can remember, there was not one scene in the movie that talked about Test cricket.
But now that you’ve retired for good, I hope to stop resenting you, and keep the memorable moments in my head.
I want to remember M. S. Dhoni for that blistering 148 against Pakistan.
For the ingenious helicopter shot.
For the between-the legs run-outs.
For “Oye Sree udhar girlfriend nahi hai, idhar aa ja thoda”
For the countless times he has answered a question with “well, of course”.
For the innovative field placements.
For the one-glove run-out.
For that six on that night.
I hope you continue to contribute to Indian cricket. Your tactical acumen and temperament is matched by very few. You’re an absolute legend of the game, a colossal behemoth of Indian cricket, and you will be missed immensely.
Good luck for the ‘second innings’, M. S. Dhoni! Hope you finally get that overseas Test century this time around!
Sincerely,
(Always was and still am) A fan
Blasphemous Balderdash 