The MSD Factor

Post 2nd day of April, 2011, a fresh debate has been making the rounds- whether Mahendra Singh Dhoni (call him Mahi, MSD or Captain Cool) is the best cricket captain of India. That, to me, is a trivial issue to be indulged in. The explicit fact that emerges out of Team India’s Cricket World Cup triumph under his stewardship is that the man has certainly got guts to make tough calls, manoeuvre his moves and lead by example. But that does not, in any way, make him superior than the game itself or point towards his one man show during the tournament. He has constantly challenged the limits of the game and got better with progression. Winning the T20 championship (in 2007) was the real big boost MSD received. That was the initial spark needed to ignite the passion within the team, realize individual strengths, accept and work upon problem areas and focus on the ultimate objective. What followed next was an uprising in Indian cricket. The team which was heavily dependent upon senior players to do the trick got a fresh bunch of promising cricketers who started performing consistently.

8 years back, the present senior team members were part of the squad that made it to the World Cup final but got a terrible thrashing in the hands of the in-form Australian side. This time round, self belief, confidence, attitude and willpower were evident in every outing. Plus, the young guns added that extra zing that was pivotal to the success.

To start off being the captain of the side, Dhoni had the burden to continue the good work that Sourav Ganguly was doing during his tenure. There is no denying the fact that he got some of the gifted players under his belt. But it was crucial to get the best out of them. And he exactly did that. He instilled confidence in out-of-form players by giving them fair chances to showcase their talents, lent his ears to everyone’s suggestions and stuck to the basics. At times, he did experiment and took the odd chances but rode his luck to emerge with flying colours.

Team India started off as favourites for the 2011 World Cup going by the analysis of their prior series (a reasonable success rate) and also due to the fact that they were playing at home. Dhoni was under a lot of pressure because the team had to maintain its winning streak in front of the home crowd, win the cup (for the country as well as for the legendary Sachin Tendulkar) and discard the fact that the host country has never lifted the cup.


Though we won the opening match against Bangladesh, it exposed loopholes in our bowling attack. The same bowling attack almost let us down in the match against England, but fortunately it ended in a draw. Against the minnows, Ireland and Netherlands, we had batting collapses but Yuvraj Singh’s handy knocks came to the rescue. We went down to South Africa despite scoring 300-plus runs. The bowling finally clicked in the match against West Indies, and we found ourselves in the knock out stage. It was an uphill task and needed each of the playing eleven to put in his very best. It was upto Mahi to bind the team as a cohesive unit, learn from the past mistakes and back each and every member. The team peaked at the right moment and crossed hurdles one after the other. We excelled in all the departments of the game to get the better of Australia and Pakistan. In the final match against Sri Lanka, we were three wickets down for 100-odd runs chasing 275. We were in a spot of bother. An out-of-form Dhoni (best score of 38 throughout the tournament) walked into the middle promoting himself up the batting order (ahead of the inform Yuvraj Singh). He, alongwith Gautam Gambhir, scripted one of the best match winning innings of his life. The winning runs came from Dhoni’s bat, that too, a big six, and Captain Cool ended his World Cup campaign in style, on a real high note (scoring unbeaten 91 runs and being adjudged the Man of the Match). He deservingly went on to conquer the cup for us after 28 long years.

Overnight, the spotlight fell on Mahi who not only led the team from front but also showed the world that if there is determination and self belief, it is possible to do the impossible. Having said that, we must acknowledge the crucial contributions from each and every player; also we cannot overlook the vital roles played by coach Gary Kirsten, psychologist Paddy Upton and, of course, the support staff. Dhoni has never over-reacted to any situation or gone berserk when the team was cornered in tough situations. He has simply followed his instincts and deployed available resources to the optimum level. MSD has always called a spade a spade. And on that eventful night, he was no exception. He spoke his heart out- "I took a quite few decisions tonight, if we hadn't won I would have been asked quite a few questions.....That pushed me and motivated to do well. The pressure had got to me in the previous games....I had a point to prove to myself....." He certainly proved a critical point to himself that went on a long way to establish his credentials not only as an outstanding sportsman but also as an exceptional individual. Fortune does favour the brave but the pre-requisite for that is you need to have that daring temperament. Time and again, MSD has earned his fortune by dint of his courage. Whether Dhoni and his men will be able to continue this glorious run is again a debate of sorts but the name of Mahendra Singh Dhoni will certainly inspire each and everyone to emulate his way of thinking and attitude.