At the start of the year we were baying for his blood.
That campaign against Test captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni may, however, not have been without its merits. The threat to his throne passed by him like the idle wind. Now, it’s time to anoint him again, not only as India’s most successful ODI captain but also as the country’s best ever ODI cricketer.
The Jharkhandite has beaten the Jat, Kapil Dev Nikhanj, and the Mumbaikar Sachin Tendulkar to the crown.
When he played that innings of controlled aggression against Sri Lanka in the final of the World Cup in 2011, Dhoni was hailed as the master.
Having earlier chosen a remote weapon as the bowler of the final over against Pakistan in the world T20 championship, Dhoni had already made a name for himself as an instinctive captain who knew the pulse of the limited-overs game.
In leading India to triumph in the last Champions Trophy, Dhoni may have been blessed by playing a team that blew its own chances when the game was up for grabs. It was his cool optimism in the face of a losing battle that saw his team seize the first opening to turn the screws until England totally self-destructed. Three great wins in ICC events placed Dhoni in the unique position as the ‘winningest’ Indian ODI captain.
The bludgeoning of 15 runs in the final over of the subsequent tri-series, even if it was off a virtual greenhorn Lankan seamer, takes him to another plane altogether.
Beating Sri Lanka may not count for all that much to a team that has been accustomed to having the better of the islanders in most big events. But the manner in which Dhoni did it, calming the excitable last man Ishant Sharma — will someone tell him he shan’t be as nervous as a kindergartener — and taking the entire burden on himself in the last over shootout, made this a master class in the art of ‘finishing’.
In picking up a heavier bat, Dhoni semaphored his intentions, but which bowler could hope to keep him quiet? Dhoni needed at least three big hits and missing the first ball meant the odds got even higher. But the moment he showed the bowler who was king by belting the next ball high and out of the ground, the battle was probably already won. How many bowlers can stare into Dhoni's eyes and come away in a frame of mind cool and disciplined enough to bowl the next ball as intended?
Throwing the kitchen sink at the next two deliveries was right up Dhoni’s alley. The two strokes were hit so hard that even if they had found a fielder in the deep he may not have had the good sense to close his hands on it. These were no ordinary hits — they were born of a murderous intent almost capable of hitting the cover off the ball.
He had a blunderbuss of a bat in hand and he simply had to blow the bowler away. The hits were brutal and to the point — mission accomplished, another trophy won.
That he stayed back at all in the hope of playing the final was a clear indication of how keen he was not to let the momentum slacken after the Champions Trophy win.
He was demonstrating the virtues of a total team effort and Virat Kohli would not have minded the intrusion at all as the person helping out is the country’s finest ever ODI player and captain.