Most Sincerely Dedicated fans on tenterhooks – W V Raman

By the time the world eased into the new millennium, a wicketkeeper-batter from Down Under exerted significant influence over the thought processes of selectors across the cricketing world. He made his Australia debut in 1996 and proved to be a great asset with his consistency on either side of the stumps. He inspired his bowlers to create opportunities for him to consistently snap up dismissals behind the stumps. And with a bat in his hands, he produced match-winning knocks across all formats, in all conditions and against the best of bowlers.  Answering to the name of Adam Gilchrist, his exploits forced selectors worldwide to cast their nets far and wide to find someone like him in the teams they were tasked with selecting. They were not to know that it was going to be a Herculean task. At least, the Indian selectors were not to know that their frenetic search would extend for another four years. 

In the final three days of the year 2001, on a winter morning in Jamshedpur, Bengal were playing a Ranji Trophy fixture against Bihar. I was the Head Coach of the Bengal side, (my first ever coaching gig) and happened to notice a very free-spirited cricketer on the field. A mop of unkempt hair that flapped around his face and ears, a handkerchief tied around his neck and a unique style of gathering the ball made me curious. I was keen to know his name and L R Shukla, the Bengal all-rounder sitting close to me, responded with, “Sir, uska naam hai Dhoni, sabke jaise har cheez kartha nahi, kuch karne wala hai, mein batha raha hoon”. Translation – His name is Dhoni, he doesn’t always do things like others, but mark my words Sir, he is a potential achiever”. For some reason, I chose not to either dispute him or probe any further. It was around the same time that Nayan Mongia, one of the safest keepers India ever had, was on his way out, and India were hell bent on finding their version of Adam Gilchrist. The desperation to find an equivalent of Gilchrist was such that the selectors went about picking a different keeper just about every time they met. The next three and a half to four years saw the selectors try different options in a bid to unearth a match winner of a keeper-cum-batter. 

It was not until 2004 that Dhoni, a name that was not really floating around as a possible candidate for the keeper’s slot, was given a go. He had a quiet debut, but I remember that his free-spirited nature remained intact. Gradually, he found his way in international cricket and before the cricket fans in India could become familiar with his full name, he was proposed as the candidate for captaincy by his legendary teammates — Sachin Tendulkar, Anil Kumble et al. The selectors considered the proposal seriously, and he was made captain soon after. The young captain played it by the ear and cracked the code to win the inaugural T20 ICC World Cup in 2007! Within a few months of that success, he was to get into a multi-pronged bond in Chennai amidst a group of cricketers thrown in together.

In 2008, Chennai Super Kings went hammer and tongs to get Dhoni into their setup during the inaugural auction. It was perhaps planned by N Srinivasan back then that he wanted a long-lasting relationship between MSD & CSK. Dhoni came to Chennai carrying the energy and the enchanting warmth of a sun that was just beginning to rise. Dhoni, like the sun, rose higher and higher with the passage of time, and his journey has provided unadulterated joy to millions of his fans. He became a phenomenon, what with fans turning up in yellow at all venues! Listening to the hoarse chants of ‘Dhoni, Dhoni, Dhoni’ in their own backyards must have caused some chagrin to the other superstars of Indian cricket. But then, Dhoni’s phenomenal fan following is not a surprise really if a 94-year-old former cricketer, C. D. Gopinath, a through and through puritan, has to say that he would want cricket to be played in the manner and spirit with which Dhoni has played and plays! What better endorsement does one need? What better appreciation could top this?

Since Dhoni called it quits from international cricket, speculation has been rife about his association with the CSK team. Now that the new IPL season has started and Thala has figured diligently in the pre-season training sessions and is looking fit, one would get to see a lot of Dhoni yet. Of course, Thala’s fans would want him to go on for a few more seasons, but that decision will be completely up to Dhoni. However, at some stage his fans will have to reconcile with the fact that CSK will have to move on without Dhoni. Until such time, they should enjoy Dhoni’s lightning fast glove work, immaculate timing while whipping off the bails and his innovative pyrotechnics towards the tail end of the innings.

As far as the fans of Thala Dhoni are concerned, they will never tire of narrating stories of the five IPL trophies that he won and secured a play-off spot almost every year fondly to their grandchildren.