Fountainhead

Well here I am...back into the writing mode…with a fortified will to become a regular at this. Not being able to pursue things for a considerable time period for it to yield results has left me unnerved. This is one virtue of mine which I became aware of, the hard way. I know this is way too small an effort to metamorphose my persona but still it’s a start and hence I call this the Fountainhead.
For a guy like me it’s not a laborious affair to decide the motif. Beyond the shadow of a doubt it has to be cricket. And unlike my last post which was dedicated to the swashbucklers of the game, this is one is about the man who has made the headlines recently, who has predominantly been held responsible for the T20 World Cup debacle of India, the captain of the Indian cricket team Mahendra Singh Dhoni.
A lot has been said, written and published about M.S.Dhoni ever since he came on to the big scene. Once the darling of the shutterbugs, Dhoni has had to face the wrath of the Indian media for the first time in his career. He is being blamed for the early routing of the team in the T20 World Cup 2009.
But before starting with the blame games and pointing fingers, let’s rewind the clock back a couple of years. Indian cricket had come to a standstill with the pre-mature elimination of the former finalist from the ICC World Cup 2007 in the Caribbean. What followed was blatant trauma, outright upheaval and an all out charge by the media. Rahul Dravid, then the captain of the Indian cricket team, unable to sustain the pressure, resigned from captaincy just after England tour later that year. Sachin Tendulkar was offered captaincy by the board of selectors and Sharad Pawar, but Sachin politely refused and said, "Give it to someone like Dhoni". The Board agreed.
The decision paid off. India went on to win the inaugural T20 World Championship held in South Africa in 2007. Under his captaincy, India went on to win the CB Series of 2007-08 in Australia and the Border-Gavaskar trophy 2008 in which they humbled Australia 2-0. He also led the team to their first ever bilateral ODI series wins in Sri Lanka and New Zealand. India also overwhelmed New Zealand in 3 match Test series (2-1). The victory was India's first in New Zealand since 1967-68. Even at home, Team India vandalized the touring England side, winning both the Test (1-0)
and ODI (5-0) series.
Under his captaincy, Team India scaled newer heights. India finally managed to shrug off the tag of ‘Poor Tourists’. Dhoni, now regarded as one of the coolest heads to captain the Indian side was calm and composed all the way cashing in the success and booting out all the drawbacks. Such was his aura and talent that in 2009, the prestigious Wisden named M.S.Dhoni as skipper & Wicket-Keeper of its first-ever Dream Test XI team. The man with the Midas touch was nominated ICC ODI Player of the Year 2008 (the first Indian player to achieve this feat).
Indian Cricket has always been like a lifecycle of a seasonal flower. On its day Team India has torn apart any and every opposition with ease but it has also been humbled by the minnows on more than one occasion. Agreed that cricket is just a game and winning and losing is part and parcel of it, but there is no point in hiding the fact that the sporadicalness of Team India can be matched by only a few others.
Now consider this. Out of the 7 Test matches played under Dhoni's captaincy, the Team India has won 5 of them and 2 drawn, thus making him a winning percentage of 71.42%. This has created a record which states that: Out of 289 players, who have captained their respective sides in Test cricket, only nine have remained unbeaten after leading their sides in five or more matches, of which Dhoni is the only current player in this elite list.
One must not forget that he has changed his batting style entirely just to balance the side. When he came in to the Indian team, the idea that a defensive shot can be played to ball was alien to him. But now he is arguably the most dependable batsman in the team after Tendulkar.
All I want to say is that form is temporary , but class is permanent. Since the day of his inception as the captain, Dhoni has changed the landscape of Indian Cricket. From being looked down upon just two years ago, we now enter the tournament as 'Favourites'. His Charisma and belief in players has inspired them to play out of their skins.The fact that he gave the final over of a World Cup final to a rookie like Joginder Sharma when he had some of the finest bowlers waiting in the wings probably outlines his captaincy the best. And inspite of being the captain, he is modest - giving his former captain Sourav Ganguly a well deserved farewell by letting him captain for the last few overs of his career. This rare combination of supreme talent, charisma, modesty, self confidence and self belief has made him captivate the hearts of not only the cricketing fraternity but the entire country. Today he is a source of inspiration for an entire generation of Indians who have finally found someone to look up to after a longtime.
He is truly a Fountainhead!
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