MS Dhoni - The Last Hurrah?

He runs the crucial last lap for Team India, shares his gnomic wisdom, still keeps like the devil. We examine the unknowable mystery that defines MSD through the forces that shaped him.

- Qaiser Mohammad Ali

April 2016 could have been the cruellest month for Mahendra Singh Dhoni. Critics first whispered, then raised their sibilant slants—Dhoni’s skill was waning, his reflexes were slowing and his ability to surprise the opposition as captain was disappearing. it all came to a head rather dramatically, at a press conference after India narrowly lost to eventual champions West Indies in the T20 World Cup semi-finals, when an Australian journalist flatly asked Dhoni if he was going to retire. Dhoni read the flipper well: “You want me to retire? Do you think i can survive till the [50-over] 2019 World Cup?” The reporter sheepishly said, “You should, yes, sure.” Dhoni’s coup de grace—“Then you have answered the question”— drew no blood, only laughs.

Three years back, Dhoni’s quick-witted repartee effectively conveyed his determination to play in the 2019 World Cup. His message looked to have been aimed at the selectors; ‘I am game for England 2019’, it read. Those eminent gentlemen took note; Dhoni soldiered on, smoothly, stodgily, stumblingly. Last week, he was picked for this year’s World Cup that runs from May 30 to July 14. His experience at this rarefied platform includes the low of a first round exit in 2007, the respectable semi-final exit in 2015 and the delirious success of 2011, an ascent crowned by Dhoni with a final shot straight out of schoolboys’ dreams.

Sachin Tendulkar and Javed Miandad may have played six World Cups each, but Dhoni, with three WCs, six T20 WCs and four Champions Trophy tournaments, remains the most decorated World Cupper in cricket history. As captain, Dhoni’s achievements are unparalleled too: the three biggest trophies--T20 World Cup 2007, World Cup 2011, and the Champions Trophy 2013.