A Tribute to MS Dhoni – Part 2

It is often said that a captain is as good as the team and a good team alone can win titles. This is definitely true to an extent, but we have seen many good teams not doing very well. Just as an example, Virat Kohli, in spite of having great teams in the IPL and international circuit, has struggled to win major trophies. It is important to have a capable team, but it is even more important to have a captain who has the ability to bring the best out of the players. This is where MS Dhoni excels.

In the part 1 of Tribute to MS Dhoni, we had revisited moments of brilliance from Dhoni the batsman(https://justcricket.home.blog/2020/08/16/3-phases-of-dhonis-career-a-tribute-to-ms-dhoni/). In this post, we will look at a bigger aspect which is the impact he had on the Indian Cricket team.

We may come across many statistics showing his win percentage, titles etc., but what stays in peoples mind is not the numbers but the manner in which he conducted himself and the team. When Dhoni took over as captain of India in 2007, the first thing that stood out was the calmness he showed under pressure. This sort of attitude from a captain was very rare to find and was just a start of things to come. He had a clear vision for the team and encouraged new talent.

The most important aspect of being a good captain is to be able to gain the trust of the team and get the best out of each player. This is where Dhoni was very good and hence is rated as one of the best captains. He is able to show trust in a player and gives them ample opportunities to perform. By giving players the confidence that their abilities are trusted and that they are going to get a good run in the playing XI, they are able play for the team rather than play for themselves which brings out their best. When players have the fear of losing their spots, they tend to play for themselves and don’t feel as a part of the environment. We have seen this with a number of players. For instance, Shane Watson did not have a good season with RCB and was not utilized in the right manner, but once he made the move to CSK, Dhoni gave him the confidence that he would feature throughout the season and in the end, Shane Watson performed on the big stage getting a hundred to win the title for CSK in 2018. The same can be said about players like Ravindra Jadeja, Mohit Sharma, Ambati Rayudu, Dwayne Bravo, Pawan Negi, who have all performed much better for CSK compared to any other franchise. 

Another important quality of a good leader is to nurture and guide the right talent to help them grow into better cricketers. Once again we have seen with a number of players on whose careers Dhoni has had a huge impact. Rohit Sharma is the biggest example of a player who Dhoni persisted with in spite of inconsistent performances. Even to Rohit Sharma’s Surprise, Dhoni promoted him to open the batting and since then Rohit Sharma has gone on to become one of the best White ball players of this generation. Dhoni has also had a big influence in the growth of Chahal and Kuldeep Yadav, about which both have mentioned on numerous occations. With the Stump mics switched on, we have heard Dhoni telling the spinners what the batsman was looking to do and these inputs that he gives definitely helps them grow as bowlers. 

Dhoni has always been a great thinker of the game and his instincts, knowledge and game awareness will be something that the Indian team will definitely miss.

Mike Hussey in a recent interview said Dhoni would always say “He who Panics Last will win the game”.  This was Dhoni’s mantra and this is what I believe differentiated MS Dhoni from the others.