Unlike the larger city of Patna, Ranchi boasts of great weather, an environment of entrepreneurship-it is no surprise that the Dhoni persona embodied and continues to show the ambition, warmth and willingness to let go, that characterises many folks from that city
This New Year’s Eve gave me the unexpected privilege of shaking hands with a legend of our times Mahendra Singh Dhoni. He was in Pune as the guest of a friend at his party and in my brief chat with the great man, it never appeared as though he was going to make a momentous announcement in the following week. For a man at the top of his game to hand over the reins of captaincy to his successor, first in Test Cricket and now in all formats of the game, it takes guts and the courage of his conviction that he needs to do whatever it takes that will benefit the game and the country he so dearly loves! As the legendary Sunil Merchant once told Sunil Gavaskar on his radio show “Cricket with Vijay Merchant”, it is important to go when the world asks why, not when people begin to say why not!
For many of us who spent our childhood and youth in Ranchi, Mahi comes across as a kindred soul and the wonderful biopic and role essayed so well by young movie actor Rajput emphasized the nostalgia factor for our town and its people. I had the privilege to spend 16 years in that city, living initially in the little village of Tatisilwai near Ranchi and later in the campus of the Birla Institute of Technology where I did my first degree in Mechanical Engineering. Unlike the larger city of Patna, Ranchi boasted of great weather, an environment of entrepreneurship and very enterprising people and it is no surprise that the Dhoni persona embodied and continues to show the ambition, warmth and willingness to let go that characterises many folks from that city. For us, going to college in the’ 70s saw enough of the dreaded “R” word as our seniors chose to first harass us and then befriend us to build lifelong friendships. One such example was Deven Sharma, a Dhoni of the financial word, who actually dared to take on the US establishment by downgrading America’s credit ratings, an act that would put his career in personal jeopardy but showed the chutzpah that so often emanates from graduates of BIT Mesra and residents of that city and state.
In this context, if one analyses that life and work of Mahi, many of the man’s actions become easy to understand. His ability to keep a cool head in the most intense pressure cooker situations shows the instinct of a man who would have faced many a street fight while growing up and come through unscathed or at least given much more than he got. His ability to toss the ball to a most unexpected bowler to bowl the last over in a “do or die” one day game situation is the manifestation of an entrepreneurial risk, taking ability that many of us Ranchettes relish. And the ability to pick up a perfect good length ball early and smack it over the ropes with a trademark helicopter shot demonstrates the instinct of a man who is ever willing to break the rules written by the purists and improvise to capitalise on a given situation.
When the history of Indian cricket is written, Sunil Gavaskar and Sachin Tendulkar would surely have their names etched in gold, but the people who capture the imagination of future generations would be a man who dared to tear his shirt off at Lords and two World Cup winners, Kapil Dev and Dhoni, both small town, relatively unsophisticated young men who would not take No for an answer, dreamed the impossible dream and dared to achieve it! When viewed through the Ranchi lens, even some of the actions for which Dhoni is faulted, sticking on with Raina and many “favourites” even during under-performing phases and acts of omission and commission in his captaincy that incurred the wrath of some commentator pundits, will be understood as just the acts of a man who would tilt at the windmills of convention and back himself without any great concern for reprimand or criticism.
“Mahi is too strong and individualistic a leader to be just another member of the team and the years spent as the much worshipped and watched Captain of India would make it agonising for him to be just another cog in the India wheel”
Do I think he will be a successful player under the captaincy of Virat Kohli and play on with winning performances up to the next World Cup? Personally, I do not think so! Mahi is too strong and individualistic a leader to be just another member of the team and the years spent as the much worshipped and watched Captain of India would make it agonising for him to be just another cog in the India wheel, however wonderful that when may become under Virat in the years to come. Dhoni has much to contribute to the country and hopefully to the people of Ranchi and having made enough money to last him and his family many life times, one can only hope that he will use his considerable wealth, brand value and charisma to motivate many young folks to do great service to the game of cricket, to all forms of sport and to the ascent of India in the firmament of world leading nations in the future.
A salute to captain Dhoni—such a magnificent man rarely walks on Planet Earth and we are proud to have seen him lead and serve the nation!
by Ganesh Natarajan
