Let MS Dhoni's quietness create all the noise

Serene, composed, and aplomb, he stepped in, promoting himself (in yet another final), with his team needing 22 off 14 balls, and finished the game with an over and a ball to spare.

Someday, somewhere, way ahead in time, someone will sit down to list the greatest of all chases by a cricket team, and while there will be an entire list of great finishers, there’s a name which is sure to figure right at the top of that list, that of Mahendra Singh Dhoni.

There are droves of analysts (including the very best in business) who have attempted, on multiple occasions to get into this man’s head, only to come out scratching their own, for, how do you define someone who refuses to take a single and let a delivery go down as a dot when his team needs 15 off 5, only to pummel the next one for a hint over 113 metres for a six over one of the longest boundaries in Australia.

Someone, who might as well have a tornado (of emotions) swiveling inside him (for little that we know), stands there, as if his team needs 15 off 24, absolutely unshaken by the nerves that the situation involves.

He says, in such situations a bowler has more to lose, because if a bowler concedes 15 off 5, that’s a bigger defeat than is the victory of a batsman who can score 15 off 5, how is that for attitude? How many of us, during those college games, or those tight gully-cricket finishes think like that as a batsman?

So, when he came out to bat last night, with India needing 22 off 14, he knew the pressure was more on Bangladesh than on India. There’s the genius of MSD explained.

But, is it all, always about the analysis of pressure situations, and never about the emotions that a game invokes? After all, he was the captain of a side, which went down against Bangladesh in Bangladesh last summer, and witnessed loud celebrations unfold at the ground; sure the victory meant so much to Bangladesh but did anyone stop to think, what did that defeat mean to this captain?

Last to praise himself, first to take criticism

To a captain, who after every failure is questioned about his place in the team, a captain who has the most coveted trophies in his cabinet than any other Indian captain ever, and is yet blamed for every failure that the team encounters. A captain who is the last to praise himself, and the first to take criticism head-on, MS is surely more loved (and loathed) than understood.

The beauty of cricket lies in the number of narratives each game proffers for one to interpret. So, while there can be multiple interpretations of MSD’s move last night to promote himself up the order, for someone who has been a devotee of MS, it seemed like he was out there to prove a point, to make a statement, to defenestrate that veil of uncertainty that people had shrouded his abilities with.

He was there, just like a vintage machine amidst newer ones, to make the world aware of the existence and perpetuity of classics. And a length ball on his pads was just the right moment, that backlift came from the orbit like a flash and the next visual was a tiny white dot in a dark sky, it was like Bangladesh’s hopes were sent sailing for over 104 metres.

Then one lofted cover drive of sorts over the infield, and MS had regained control, again. India needed 5 off 8 balls, MS was on strike, this was the moment for a believer to show an atheist that god exists, by simply closing one’s eyes, muting the audio, and claiming the next ball to be a six. Magic.

While Kohli at the other end (who played another brilliant knock) seemed animated, MS, after a brief admiration of his shot, turned, plucked one souvenir stump and started shaking hands with the opponent as if he just finished a routine game.

But, the world knew, and maybe, just maybe, he knew as well, he had made a statement, a statement that was evident in the glum silence of an otherwise raucous Bangladeshi crowd, and in the smirk that he wore briefly on his face.

So, someday, when someone sits down to pen the best finishers in ODI cricket, there will be many moments but very few words, many descriptions but very few statements, many greats, but only one MS, because quite frankly, there cannot be another.