Dhoni played last of his 90 Tests in Melbourne which ended in a draw and resulted in India losing sixth consecutive series overseas.By: Sriram Veera
Why are you still captaining? What excites you?” It’s 2012, India were in the middle of a masochistic tour of Australia, he had by then already said he would quit Tests by the end of 2013, speculations about rifts within the team were floating, when MS Dhoni was asked that direct question. We were in a press conference and the question, at least the way it tumbled out of my mouth, was probably harsh but that was that.
Dhoni didn’t stare. Too long at least. He looked into the eye, turned his head away to nothing in particular and said: “Not for the sake of it. It’s an interesting responsibility given to me… the challenge (excites me), the challenge to be with the senior guys, to groom the youngsters to keep the dressing-room atmosphere good. Leading a side is all about when the team is not doing well.”
It’s a good revealing answer. May be devoid of the joy of captaincy which did come through on the long hours under the sun overseas when he would often let things meander. Perhaps, the retirement of the seniors appealed to his sense of responsibility and he pushed that decision to quit Tests by an year, to now.
The timing, the manner, the secrecy, the abruptness was typically Dhoni. He hadn’t called his team-mates to his wedding; he wasn’t going to tell them now before the decision to quit. The timing is right for he had long failed to convince that he could really change his tepid captaincy style.
It’s the schizophrenia of Dhoni’s captaincy, and as Test batsman, that startles even after all these years. How can a man who was so imperious in limited-overs format be so tame with bat in Tests? How can a captain who was pretty good in India be so rudderless overseas? It’s no surprise that he has first quit the format he was least successful in.
Every captain has a shelf-life, but importantly every captain has a place and time where he fits. Arjuna Ranatunga was the freedom fighter that a then young vulnerable Sri Lanka needed to be confident to compete with international teams. Same with India. Sourav Ganguly’s passion was needed to inspire a young new India, coming out of the controversies of match-fixing; Rahul Dravid’s approach that led to a few controversial sackings of big players and also the re-establishment of some prodigal sons helped to reign in some big egos.
And Dhoni’s calmness was just what the star-heavy Test team needed, someone to give them the space to do their own thing. That bunch of individuals, who were self-aware and mature, didn’t need much work. They didn’t need a continued…
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