Mahendra Singh Dhoni remains a central component of India’s World Cup side even as he turns 38. The limited-overs great was Wisden India Cricketer of the Year in 2014, when his former coach Greg Chappell wrote this insightful profile.
Greg Chappell, the former Australia coach, was coach of India between 2005 and 2007.
The Bhagavad Gita explains that character is core to effective leadership. That explains why Mahendra Singh Dhoni has become one of India’s best ever leaders. His ability to manage the dynamics of the Indian dressing room sets him apart. Even as a youngster in the team, he had the ability to move comfortably between the senior and junior groups. He was never afraid to speak his mind.
The first thing that I noticed about Dhoni was his calm and relaxed demeanour which was epitomised by his warm smile. His serene nature gave off an ascetic air that attracted people to him. If first appearances are important, Dhoni is a winner. Corporate India obviously thinks so. He has become an icon of modern India.
Dhoni’s body language suggested that he was confident without being cocky. He preferred to be approached rather than do the approaching, but he was always prepared to talk. His interests were many and varied, but generally involved power and machines. MSD loves motorbikes, knows a lot about military aircraft and has an affinity for weapons.
He has made mistakes behind the stumps but, when one considers the amount of cricket he has played in the past decade, I think his performance has been outstanding. Allied to the demands of captaincy in all formats, plus the Indian Premier League, the workload becomes super-human.
To put it in to context and to carry on the Gilchrist comparisons, Australia declined to consider Gilchrist for the captaincy because they did not wish to saddle him with any responsibility that might diminish his performance. He was considered a once-in-a-lifetime cricketer. Dhoni as captain, leads by example and breeds confidence in his team by showing faith in individuals. He reads the game extremely well and is one who trusts his intuition and is not afraid to take risks at critical moments; particularly in the limited-over formats.
There have been times in Test cricket, when he has appeared bored and uninterested. These periods have invariably been in foreign conditions when the team were being outplayed. Two things that he has been criticised for are the occasional ultra-defensive field placings and his desire to have conditions overwhelmingly in his favour in Test cricket at home.
I must say that his demand for extremely spin-friendly wickets on which to play Australia surprised me. I expected the warrior in him to want to take Australia on in more evenly balanced conditions.
Has the pressure of captaincy and the desire for Team India to win, finally caught up with even his indomitable belief?
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