The Art of Leaving

Saying goodbye to the public arena is no easy call to make

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THE once-legendary Mahendra Singh Dhoni has dragged the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) to the bottom of the IPL points-table this season. Many cricket connoisseurs believe Dhoni should have withdrawn his shadow from the CSK long ago. On the other hand, Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma have bowed out on a high note, paving the way for a welcome new beginning in Indian cricket: India has a new captain, the elegant Shubman Gill, now the designated helmsman who would have the burden of satisfying and catering to the emotions and anxieties of a billion Indians in this cricket-crazy land. After all, this is the only arena of endeavour in which we seem to be capable of winning the honours cleanly and honourably.

The unforced departure of Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma, the two pillars of Indian cricket for the last decade, has reminded us of the necessity—and importance—in our collective life of that elusive virtue—the subtle and essentially sublime art of leaving the arena gracefully.

Leaving the arena, especially the public arena, is not an easy call to make. It is, at the end of the day, a personal decision for a political leader but in every case, a host of individual calculations and vested interests do intrude in deciding whether to hang up the boots. There is always the allure of one more fight in the ring; the temptation to get one more (hopefully the final) chance to achieve this or that milestone; or, simply, the delusion that if one left the ramparts the barbarians would force their way in. The delicious dish of indispensability is served to the “leader” every morning and evening by courtiers.