A few of my myths busted over past few days. Here are my realizations.
1. If you vacate a seat for a lady on a bus, don't expect her to return back the favour.
2. So what petrol is very expensive now, there are still people who would travel back and forth a kilometer to lift 3 people because he couldn't carry all 5( all unknown to the rider) on his 2-wheeler in the first place.#Goans rock.
3. Even if it is only his luck, so be it. Mahendra Singh Dhoni is (almost) invincible.
We, as fans of Indian Cricket, are so used to worshiping Sachin as our icon. I often wonder what will happen after he retires. The fanatic following cricket has in India, it has to have an icon. MSD is all ready to fill the gap when the time comes. He is all set to be the new icon.
For me, the most defining moment of MSD on field was the presentation ceremony of T20 World Cup final. When asked about why he gave the last over to Joginder Sharma, he replied. Harbhajan didnt want to bowl the last over. So he gave the over to someone who didnt have a reputation to save and wanted to make a mark at the international level. That is as honest as you can get. Just imagine. Losing to Pakistan in a world cup final by giving the last over to a newbie. The greatest cricketing sin one could commit. Chetan Sharma never got to bowl again for India after conceding a last ball six to Javed Miandad. Indian fans have matured over the years. Yet Dhoni might have never captained India again.
His cricketing exploits are at par with any Indian cricketer. Avg of 50 at an strike rate of over 90 is class stuff. Yet his acceptance as a batsman is low. He is definitely effective, hardly elegant. That's very much expected. He learnt his cricket in gullies of Ranchi, amidst his mediocre colleagues in Jharkhand Ranji team.
I have always been in a dilemma. Whether to like him or not. A lot of people actually dislike him. News report about him surpassing Sachin in advertisement earnings fuel the disgust. I believe it's only the insecurity of Sachin' s fans. Dhoni rise as a challenge to Sachin is a bit far fledged. It's high time we stop considering any competition to Sachin and celebrate Dhoni as our new icon.
As a captain, he is almost perfect. Yet to lose a test series. 2 World Cup victories. 2 IPL victories. His predecessors were the 3 greatest Indian batsman. 2 turned out be less than average captains. Sachin sucks as a captain. He makes commonsensical blunders while captaining. Dhoni has been an underdog. A small town guy who made it big. His is a sensational success story. His humility and straight forwardness is charming. His luck magical. He doesn't carry the arrogance and politics(alleged) like Ganguly, nor does he have the plastic perfection and boring political correctness like Dravid. His imperfection makes him someone people identify with. He seems one amongst us. One we can successfully emulate.
Handing the captaincy to Ganguly in his final moments as an Indian cricketer and asking Kumble to jointly lift the trophy were memorable gestures. Him parading the entire team in front of the media( T20 World Cup, 2009) was silly yet dramatic. (He takes the media way too seriously). His naughty chirps from behind the wicket ( "Bell ki ghanti baja") are youthfully undiplomatic. He may not be perfect like Sachin. Attaining Sachin like perfection( not just his game, his overall persona) is beyond the scope of human effort. Dhoni appears more realistic. Our brand new icon.
1. If you vacate a seat for a lady on a bus, don't expect her to return back the favour.
2. So what petrol is very expensive now, there are still people who would travel back and forth a kilometer to lift 3 people because he couldn't carry all 5( all unknown to the rider) on his 2-wheeler in the first place.#Goans rock.
3. Even if it is only his luck, so be it. Mahendra Singh Dhoni is (almost) invincible.
We, as fans of Indian Cricket, are so used to worshiping Sachin as our icon. I often wonder what will happen after he retires. The fanatic following cricket has in India, it has to have an icon. MSD is all ready to fill the gap when the time comes. He is all set to be the new icon.
For me, the most defining moment of MSD on field was the presentation ceremony of T20 World Cup final. When asked about why he gave the last over to Joginder Sharma, he replied. Harbhajan didnt want to bowl the last over. So he gave the over to someone who didnt have a reputation to save and wanted to make a mark at the international level. That is as honest as you can get. Just imagine. Losing to Pakistan in a world cup final by giving the last over to a newbie. The greatest cricketing sin one could commit. Chetan Sharma never got to bowl again for India after conceding a last ball six to Javed Miandad. Indian fans have matured over the years. Yet Dhoni might have never captained India again.
His cricketing exploits are at par with any Indian cricketer. Avg of 50 at an strike rate of over 90 is class stuff. Yet his acceptance as a batsman is low. He is definitely effective, hardly elegant. That's very much expected. He learnt his cricket in gullies of Ranchi, amidst his mediocre colleagues in Jharkhand Ranji team.
I have always been in a dilemma. Whether to like him or not. A lot of people actually dislike him. News report about him surpassing Sachin in advertisement earnings fuel the disgust. I believe it's only the insecurity of Sachin' s fans. Dhoni rise as a challenge to Sachin is a bit far fledged. It's high time we stop considering any competition to Sachin and celebrate Dhoni as our new icon.
As a captain, he is almost perfect. Yet to lose a test series. 2 World Cup victories. 2 IPL victories. His predecessors were the 3 greatest Indian batsman. 2 turned out be less than average captains. Sachin sucks as a captain. He makes commonsensical blunders while captaining. Dhoni has been an underdog. A small town guy who made it big. His is a sensational success story. His humility and straight forwardness is charming. His luck magical. He doesn't carry the arrogance and politics(alleged) like Ganguly, nor does he have the plastic perfection and boring political correctness like Dravid. His imperfection makes him someone people identify with. He seems one amongst us. One we can successfully emulate.
Handing the captaincy to Ganguly in his final moments as an Indian cricketer and asking Kumble to jointly lift the trophy were memorable gestures. Him parading the entire team in front of the media( T20 World Cup, 2009) was silly yet dramatic. (He takes the media way too seriously). His naughty chirps from behind the wicket ( "Bell ki ghanti baja") are youthfully undiplomatic. He may not be perfect like Sachin. Attaining Sachin like perfection( not just his game, his overall persona) is beyond the scope of human effort. Dhoni appears more realistic. Our brand new icon.
