Vision of Life; by Sanjay: Dhoni, an Ever Going Story !!

“A leader is best when people barely know he exists, when his work is done, his aim fulfilled, they will say: we did it ourselves” … Lao Tzu

“I Don’t Mind Repeating Everything.” … M.S. Dhoni

Jadeja swiped the ball on leg side, it beats the fielder on fine leg & before the ball touched the boundary rope, a sea of yellow erupted in the Narendra Modi Stadium, Ahmadabad & the commentators were shouting in excitement, Winner of IPL 2023 (sorry, Tata IPL), Chennai Super Kings for record fifth time & Mahendra sing Dhoni did it once again, the impossible! Actually, in that entire match, barring stumping of Shubhman Gill (will speak about it in detail later), as a batsman, Dhoni was a failure, & winning was possible by Jadeja as well some hard hitting by rest of the players yet everybody was chanting only one name, MSD! This is magic as once again it’s been proved that in any war it’s not the weapons but the hands which hold that weapon that matters! Going ahead with MSD, it’s not even the hands holding the weapons but the brain of the General who makes those hands able to use those weapons is what wins the wars, this is why Dhoni is not just special but super special!

Well, I know it’s just one IPL trophy & if crores of Indians love the game of cricket, then probably equal numbers either hate or don't follow this game is equally true. But the way crores of Indians hate politics (even bjp) yet they love or respect Mr Modi (same way it’s been of Late Indira Gandhi), the analogy is same for Dhoni when it’s about individual image (you may call it as brand), this is why Dhoni is special. We all know about his popularity & those who follow cricket must have watched all CSK’s matches & those who don’t follow cricket have no interest in statistics so I will skip that part & put forward why this sharing! It’s not about the greatness of Dhoni or records he has made or been part of, as we know most of it but it’s about why he is so special or great. Again, this part also has been shared, written about on many platforms but then success stories have many dimensions & who knows which dimension can make someone understand the story better or say an easier way so that somewhere someone can take that path, that’s why this sharing. And then I am diehard fan (or follower) of four things, Movies, Super Heroes, Animation & Sports, that too team sports more, because individual game are interesting but they don’t need or produce leaders & it’s the leaders we need when we want to grow or progress as a society, that’s why team sports are important as they give us leaders! Take example of Tennis, I love the game & badminton too, here we have greats like Federer, Djokovic, Nadal & in Badminton also we have our very own Sindhu & Saina as well greats like Lin Dan they have won millions of fans but & are wonderful sportsmen/ women yet what they do on their respective courts is their individual skill & when its game like cricket )even if just ten or twelve) countries may be paying it, yet it’s like organizing an army in any game, this needs a great leader which only can make the army win or say play consistently great!

Ok, if it’s so & figures are important then, even the Mumbai Indians have won IPL for five times & before Dhoni, Rohit Sharma who is our current Indian team’s captain also has done it, still why people feel Dhoni is greatest, that’s why this sharing! As, few performances or say characters you can’t bound by figures or records, especially when it's the captain’s role, as that way when I started watching (listening is the right word as in 70/ 80’s we were not accessible to TV) the era was of Gawskar & Kapil Dev. If you take a look on the names of the greats as an individual players contribution then starting from Bedi to Kapil Dev to Tendulkar & Dravid to Virat Kohli today, we have many of them in cricket & speaking about popularity then Tendulkar is God for this country for more two decades, so was Gavaskar yet why Dhoni is above all of them (no offense) when as an individual player he is way below on numbers, that’s why this sharing! Even in present IPL if I ask you to name a special MSD innings then there is hardly anything you can remember & yet this IPL will be remembered as Dhoni’s IPL for sure, this is special which no name in the above list was able to achieve, Some will say its social media genre & commercial aspects of the game & that’s true to some aspect but then it was Gavaskar who first shown advertising money to cricket by joining Siyarams’ ad & the how my genre can forget Kapil Paaji’s, “Palmolive da jawab nahi” wala shaving cream ad. So, commerce has been part of Indian cricket for pretty long period & only that aspect can’t save you from going down in the memories of the masses rather ad world is brutal & it runs behind only the performance & still Dhoni’s magic is intact even when he has been retired from international cricket for more than two years now, to analyse this magic, my sharing!

Ok, coming back to IPL 23, indeed many hates IPL yet its most money generating popular league game now across the globe is a fact we can’t ignore & it indeed has given platform to thousands of youngsters to be on the big stage, which wasn’t possible earlier & then in football to tennis there have been private tourneys which are more popular than official inter nation tournaments is equally true. And how we can forget it's only under Dhoni’s captaincy we have won the T20 & One Day wala world cup. As well do mind, the football legend of today Messi also was able to make his country won the world cup at the dawn of his career while he became great by making clubs, he played for to win the various leagues around, so by me, which team you play for doesn’t matters as a sports matter than name of the tournament yet this doesn’t mean to take away shine as well pride of playing under country’s flag, do mind! If now you are in sync with my thought process about Dhoni, then let’s move ahead and take a look at players & their performances in this IPL because however great a captain you may be yet if the players doesn’t perform then you can’t win the matches is a fact. All first top three wicket takers were from Gujrat Titans, last year’s winners & this year’s runners up, more to that no bowler from CSK is in first five of maximum wicket takers! There is just one name in first five batters in this tournament IPL from CSK & he too is at number five. Amongst all the teams CSK’s players average age was maximum & more than that except Ravindra Jadeja who have been out of international cricket for nearly one year due to injury, there was no player in CSK team who was playing at international level from any national team. Ben Stokes was there but due to injury he couldn’t play a single game & Dhoni himself was not fully fit with knee injury. With all such statistics not even, Dhoni’s diehard fans were ready to believe that CSK had any chances this year & the team was next to bottom on points tally last year! In such a situation with such a team you win the trophy, this is Dhoni!

First & foremost, Dhoni is very different from all our other greats, only Kapil Dev can be in his league on using natural instincts but then unlike Kapil, Dhoni has a cold-blooded calculated mind which acts like an army general & uses it with extreme ruthlessness! Because if on one hand Dhoni can believe in his old soldiers & makes them get going then on other hand, he is very clear whom to use when & even his best lieutenant Sir Jadeja, he can keep aside from using making him fume, that’s why Dhoni is special! Dhoni knows he neither have any geniuses’ gifts of playing by himself like Sachin or Sahewag nor he has technique like Rahul Dravid but he has something no Indian player has got in such ample quantity, extreme street smartness of the game & self-belief which has developed by testing his leadership metal on the heat of people’s expectations! CSK was always been hailed as a squad which doesn’t change their playing team even after getting defeated repeatedly as it’s like ocean waves which keeps returning back again & again to crash on the shore making the strongest of the rocks get broken under their persistent attack! This is what we witnessed, Gujrat Titans have beaten them three times consequently & yet Dhoni refused to change the playing squad even when it was qualifier & final, this belief in the players makes a huge difference in the mindset of the players. Though this is a calculated risk as with already beaten by opponents the players are eager to give them back taste of revenge & in the process performs their best, knowing this psychology makes Dhoni special! This is why a team with no big name & with no special performance can break the teams like Gujarat Titans & RCB which have star players. CSK was like a pack of wild dogs hunting a big bison which even a tiger is afraid of taking head on for hunting, this is what makes Dhoni special! This IPL he used all his street-smartness to hunt down the teams & his pack responded because he believed in them; every wicket of the opponent's team was planned by the leader of the pack & so was the way the team batted or fielded! May it be one or two wickets to every bowler or twenty or thirty odd quick fired runs, collectively they literally bleed the opponent teams which surrendered eventually by bleeding!

And then Dhoni has come from class of the society with which billions of Indians can relate to themselves, this is something like Salim Javed did with Big B in 70’s where the script was about a young man who doesn’t have any good looks like a hero which you can relate with yourself & he using just his anger & mind, takes on the entire system, the masses just loved it & made him Super Star! Here in the cricket its real life but the script is same, a young man with no special talent of game gives away govt job , dares to play a game which billions have played in their childhood & not just survives but keeps on beating teams after teams by gathering other commoners from various parts of the country & helps them to become star by themselves & yet having the smartness of keeping himself in shadows instead trying to take all limelight on himself, this is what makes Dhoni super special! This he displayed once again while receiving the trophy post winning IPL 23, he called Jadeja who was key to the win & Rayudu, who has declared his retirement before the final & made them receive the trophy, how many captains can do this, this is what makes Dhoni special!

This is something which goes beyond any tag or team & that’s why whichever ground Dhoni’s team was playing the team used to get support from the fans, a scene which is rarest in any game! In concluding statement post final match, the commentator (I still love to watch & listen Hindi commentary) said, “timoke shaher hote hai, MSD ka pura desh hai” what more honour of any player there can be than this fact & may be that’s why Dhoni with tears in his eyes (again a rare thing) refused to announce his retirement by saying “playing one more time will be my gift to the fans who have given me so much love”! Amongst all the matches whenever the camera was covering the crowd one scene has gone viral, a girl holding a poster which said “MSD take my life but keep playing for next twenty years,” it does brought tears in my eyes as there have been great players & there have been greater fan following but very few are capable to carry burden of this love & expectations that too for so long, which Dhoni has & that’s why he is super special! Time is the biggest & strongest enemy of every living being as it makes you age but it's not about getting defeated by the time it’s about how hard you have been to get defeated even to the time, is what makes you special, & on that scale Dhoni has already defeated the time also! On the personal note, I will be grateful to the time for testing Dhoni so long as his entire story was & is like a school for me which has not just taught me how bad a captain of my own life I am, but how much good I can still become & tomorrow even if Dhoni stops playing, his story will never stop from playing & inspiring millions, which is why he is supe super special!

Sanjay Deshpande

Sanjeevani Dev.

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