MAHI BHAI AND ME

“From 1929 hours, 15th August 2020, cricket wont be same for me again.”

74th Independence Day of our country will be very special to my heart as my very own “MAHI BHAI “, Mahendra Singh Dhoni has officially  retired from International Cricket. With that the last string attached to my Childhood has also officially bid adieu. As I am very emotional today, it’s a day to celebrate the journey of the “Wonder Boy from Ranchi” Mahendra Singh Dhoni. 

It's been an absolute privilege to witness the journey of Dhoni from being a young man with long hair to a mature caring father who hands over his trophy to his 4 year old daughter to see her priceless smile. 

A small tribute to M.S.D. on this emotional day. It’s not easy to summarise such a glorious career in few words, but I have tried to write something for Mahi Bhai, straight from my heart. 

I first saw Dhoni  playing  for India A vs Pak A in 2003 in Nairobi  where he scored a match winning 100 but honestly as a 10 year old I was more impressed by his long hair back then rather than his batting. 

Then comes the innings against Pakistan at Vishakhpatnam in 2005 where he scored 148 batting at No 3. The best part of the innings was the audacity with which he played. Still remember the way he tore apart  the lethal Pakistani bowling attack, specially Shahid Afridi. This innings was a just glimpse of what all cricket lovers would watch and relish over the next few years from Mahi Bhai . 

Then comes Dhoni Dhamaka! (Diwali gift for all Indians), 183* while chasing a total of 

299 vs Sri Lanka which had a strong bowling attack with likes of Murali, Vass . As a kid I was overjoyed as this innings was just a day before the auspicious day of Dipawali & the joy was double as India wrapped up the series, thanks to the fireworks of M.S Dhoni. 

By now Dhoni had made a name for himself in world cricket as a hard hitting wicket keeper batsman. Helicopter shot by now was a household name in all corners of India. 

In 2006 when India toured Pakistan, he played two blazing knocks in Karachi and  Lahore which helped India win the series.  It was on that tour Dhoni scored his maiden Test match Century, a counter attacking 148 in Faisalabad vs a strong pace battery of Akhtar & co. Not to forget Musharraf  Sahab"s compliments for his hairstyle in the presentation ceremony and that innocent smile of Dhoni. 

As it is always said that few people are born leaders, who can be a better example than Dhoni. He had never captained in any form of the game until 2007, but he adapted to captainship just like a fish adapts to the water. Rest  all is History as we know.

2007, the defining moment for Indian cricket where our young brigade won the inaugural ICC World T20 under the inspiring leadership of Dhoni.

How can we forget this lines  .... "In the air Sreeshant takes it , India win "

Now a full time captain and a mature new look!!! Goodbye to the long dashing hairstyle.  Lead a team which had seniors like Sachin, Ganguly , Dravid, VVS who were icons of the game and had much more experience than MSD. But, Dhoni as a leader, always maintained a fine balance, he always took views , suggestions from the seniors, always turned up to them in tricky situations but at the same time he also had  succeeded in stamping  his authority on the team and backed his instincts. 

In 2008, he became the first Indian captain to win an ODI series in Australia. 

Well, I still remember I saw the entire final on the eve on my 10th std board exam! 

Dhoni by now was a well respected captain in world cricket and  his  trophy cabinet  just got bigger with wins in New Zealand 2009, Asia Cup 2010, to name a few. 

Then comes the big one.....

28 years since the country celebrated their maiden and only World Cup win back in 1983.

The World Cup was in India, pressure was immense, no home country had ever won the World Cup on home soil. From a tea staller to the Head Coach, there was only one demand from entire nation ... “ Bring the cup back home”.  🏆🏆🏆

"DHONI FINISHES OFF IN STYLE, A MAGNIFICENT STRIKE INTO THE CROWD, INDIA LIFTS THE WORLD CUP AFTER 28 YEARS AND ITS AN INDIAN CAPTAIN WHO HAS BEEN MAGNIFICENT ON THE NIGHT OF THE FINAL"

No Indian cricket lover will ever forget the above words said by Ravi Shastri on the commentary when Dhoni hit that winning 6 towards mid on which bought abundance of joy and tears in eyes of every Indian.  

Pressure of chasing in Finals ???? Pressure of playing at home? Then India could have got to the worst possible start as Sehwag got out for  0 , Sachin 18 while chasing 275. But is there a word “Pressure “ in Dhoni”s dictionary ??? 

Dhoni took the centre stage, promoted himself up the order at no 5 ahead of in form

Yuvraj , played the innings of his life scored a priceless 91 runs, steadied the ship like a responsible captain and eventually took the ship to its destination i.e. the long awaited The World Cup Glory. 

ICC champions trophy 2013, not to forget that during that tournament he was under extreme pressure due to off the field issues of spot fixing and the IPL scam. However he put everything behind him & against all odds India won that tournament. By winning Champoins Trophy in 2013 , Mahendra Singh Dhoni became the only Captain  on this Planet to win all ICC Trophies. 

In 2015, he could have easily flew back to India to see his daughter Ziva who was born when the Indian Team was in Australia, but Dhoni being Dhoni, refrained from leaving his team and stayed with them as a crucial World Cup Campaign awaited Team India. Now nothing can beat this for his Commitment towards his nation and his colleagues. Over the years, as a captain it could have been very easy to stand in the centre with the trophy in his hand, but being a selfless team man, we always find Dhoni in the corner while giving a chance to the Youngsters to lift the trophy. Such small small things, makes Mahi bhai a legend. 

From the cricketing point of view lots of things to learn from MSD. 

How he evolved his game from being a big hitter to a mature steady batsman . Adaptability and Flexibility are two main things which one can always learn from Dhoni’s Batting.  Dealing with the pressure of cricket frenzy fans in India and more importantly how to tackle our great Indian media . On the field how street smart he is with clever tactics. Best part about MSD is that he never goes over the top and likes to keep things simple. Apart from these he is always proactive with decisions and  anticipates situations well. Be it a cricket field or life, it’s always about taking calculated risks and to ensure that the reward is always higher than the risk. Sometimes like all Dhoni”s style of play confused me also , I would think what’s going on in his mind, but M.S. mind works like a computer, he will just hang in there, play the waiting game patiently, then take calculated risks when risk reward is in his favour and  then pounce on the opposition. 

Dhoni, always has acknowledged the  fact, that cricket is a team sport. Over the years, we have seen he has put always team”s interest first and despite being such a Super Star he has always kept his ego at bay. Dhoni, a master of the game always remained, behaved like a servant of the game, never ever imposed himself on the team, and was instrumental in creating a happy environment in dressing room over the years. 

I saw Sachin play only in later half of his career from 2003 onwards. But I have seen MSD him play since the start of his career so feeling more nostalgic than ever as it rolls the clock back and takes me in 2003 when I was a 10 year old kid  . It has been a long journey, and have learnt lot of good traits from him like leadership skills, being humble, being cool, have a good sense of humour, give respect to your colleagues, to be a responsible and a proud Indian citizen.  

Like every sportsman, MSD also had a few off days at the helm, his modest Test record overseas, few controversies too, but today is not the day  to talk about that. 

Today, it is time to cherish all the good memories and abundance of happiness which a boy from a small town called Ranchi has given to billions of Indians and the one who took Indian cricket to new heights. 

Winning and loosing is part and parcel of any sport but the best thing about Dhoni is he keeps his emotions under check and is always on top on his emotions whether it's victory or a loss. It's very important for any leader in any field not to let his emotions get better of  him, and always maintain composure. 

Being unconventional can be conventional sometimes and may work for you in crunch situations that's what my biggest learning from Mahi Bhai. 

He played many memorable knocks as a batsman but here are my top  moments of MSD as a captain which enlightened the fact that he was a street smart captain, always one step ahead of the opposition and a great leader when it came to absorbing pressure. 

1) Backing Ishant Sharma to bowl the penultimate over in the champions trophy final and held back his spinners to bowl in the death overs. Again a move which was unconventional in its own way. 

2) Keeping his cool and didn't show any emotion when there was confusion at the toss in 2011 WC Final. Later in the match against all odds promoting himself ahead of Yuvraj. 

3) 2007 T20 WC final, any captain would have given the last over to Harbhajan who had 400+ international wickets, but not MSD. He chose to gamble with Joginder Sharma and the gamble paid off handsomely. 

4) From 2007-2016 he was the captain of India and its the most prestigious as well as high pressure job when you are in the hot seat as billions of people have hopes on you, you are their role model. One of the most important highlight for me during his captaincy tenure was how sedately and with all serenity he handled the media, pressure from the fans, critics. And well, in India even a person watching a match at a pan stall can be a critic and offer advices. 

The best part of MSD was he never got bogged down by such humongous  pressure and always maintained his cool and calm attitude in crunch situations. 

5) One of the best leadership qualities which MSD had was that he was an absolutely selfless team player. He always put the team ahead of any personal milestones. One of the biggest examples is after becoming the captain he took the responsibility of being a finisher by batting lower down the order and take more pressure and responsibility. Moreover, he also changed his playing style by becoming more of a stable batsman , which allowed youngsters like Raina, Kohli, Sharma to bat freely, which enabled them to express themselves on the field in the early stages of their careers and also backed them tremendously. 

6. IPL 2018: CSK making a comeback after 2 years of hiatus, most of the cricket pundits thought that it will be very difficult for CSK to clinch another tittle, because half of their side was on the wrong side of 30. Does it matter for MSD ???? No, he saw the glass half full rather than half empty. He backed the experience over youth and proved the myth wrong that T20 is a young men's game. Also, during the course of the tournament he reinvented his game, got his old mojo back and it was an absolute privilege to see Dhoni hitting those colossal sixes once again. Henceforth he proved that age is no barrier as long as you have the passion and hunger. to achieve success. You just need to work hard.

7. One Thing that always goes unnoticed about Dhoni is his Wicketkeeping skills, agile, flexible unconventional and unorthodox. There is one learning from that too. It is not always necessary to follow the normal, I am sure we all will agree that by no means Dhoni’s Wicketkeeping technique was top notch. But even that didn’t hamper him from becoming the most successful wicket keeper. His unorthodox style was his biggest strength. If a batsman misses the ball and is out of his crease, its just a graveyard for the batsman if MS is behind the stumps, always cool as a ice behind the stumps. 

As far his keeping is concerned, my best Dhoni moment will be the match vs Bangladesh in 2016 T20 World Cup . Last ball of the game, he removed this right keeping glove so he can easily collect the ball and throw, and the rest we know that all is history. The biggest learning from this incident for me was to anticipate things well in advance and have trust in your gut feel. 

8. Dhoni was never considered as a top notch Test Match Batsman because of his unconventional technique, however he still he managed to play 90 Test matches for India and score nearly 5000 runs. His 224 at Chepauk vs Australia in 2013 is one the best innings an Indian Captain the he has every played. 

Captaining India is not only captaining a team of 11 individuals is carrying dreams of 1.3 billion Indians. But Dhoni with his cool and calm composure never let it affect him and always maintained his composure with dignity. 

Two of my favourite lines which MSD uses many times in his media interactions: 

1.  It's very important to stay in the present.  

2.  Process is more important than results, doing the right things again and again is very important, results will follow. 

Mahendra Singh Dhoni, in the latter part of this career relinquished the captainship to Kohli, but that didn’t stop him to lead the team and take responsibility. He guided youngsters like Kuldeep and Chahal from behind the wicket, was always in Kohli”s ear with his valuable inputs and didn’t shy away from taking the charge of the team when needed. Its not that you always need the letter “C” next to your name to be the captain and take responsibility of the team. 

Every story, doesn’t always have a fairy tale ending, the same applies to Dhoni. Known as one of the best finishers and fastest sprinter  between the wickets in the cricketing world , MS was run out in his last international innings in the World Cup Semi Final and was not able to finish the game for his country. But, in life everything doesn’t go as per the plan, does it ? We have to accept, take it on the chin and move on. 

Dhoni, has never been a big fan of farewells, in 2014 after a fighting gusty innings against Australia on Boxing day, he retired abruptly where he could have easily played the next game and retired. In 2020 he has done the same thing, he could have easily opted for a glorious farewell in Rachi, or conducted a formal press conference, but that’s not the Mahi way! He simply puts a small note on social media with his favourite song which has a deep meaning and is apt for the situation. Dhoni always believed in innovation, out of the box theory and it truly reflected in his style of retiring from international cricket. Dhoni loves to finish off matches in style, his retirement announcement wasn’t anything different . MS couldn’t have selected a better day than Independence Day to retire, his love for Indian Armed Forces and the Nation is well known to all of us. 

Well, Mahendra Singh Dhoni you have been absolutely magnificent, a true champion, thanks for making my teens, early 20s thrilling and memorable.  🙏🏽🙏🏽. Your journey not only as a cricketer but also as a person is a Case Study in itself. Personally, the best thing I have learnt from you is how to remain grounded, humble, despite attaining all heights of the success. 

From 1929 hours, 15th August, will miss the No 7 Jersey forever. 

Thanks from bottom of my heart

MAHENDRA SINGH DHONI.

God Bless you Mahi Bhai. Wishing you and your family all the happiness in the world.

Your Fan Forever,

MANAN PATEL