Cometh the hour, cometh the man

MS Dhoni's ascendancy to the top of Indian cricket's totem pole is as surprising as it is uplifting. All kinds of articles have been written about the boy from the backwaters of Jharkhand making it to the Indian team and it is not going to abate any time soon. When he first came on the scene the long, streaked hair put me off and I dismissed him as a senseless slogger (so much for never judging a book by it's cover).

Then he scored 183, always referred to as the highest score made by a wicket-keeper batsman in an ODI. I remember it for something even more significant, but under-appreciated - it is the highest score ever made by a batsman while chasing a target in an ODI. However, I began to sit up and take notice when, in the very next match, he showed me that he was more than just a slam-bang type of player. He scored 45 not out in 43 balls with 1 four and 2 sixes, taking India to an easy victory over the Sri Lankans. But the numbers lie. Take a look at the way he scored the runs in the innings. The last two balls were hit for a six, with 12 runs required to win. Until then, he was patient, farming the strike and ensuring that there was no collapse. A thinking batsman hid behind the flashy exterior.

After that innings, I started keeping track of his batting, especially during chases. (I have previously blogged about it here and, in an earlier post, here). He has gone from strength to strength and is, currently, the #1 ranked batsmen in ODI's. I was surprised at his failures in Test matches and was hoping that he played them the way he played ODI's - looking to farm the strike and then opening up once the bowlers had lost some confidence. Based on the way he batted (and then later spoke about it) in the second Test, I believe he has come to the same realization. Bowlers everywhere - beware!

The CricInfo staff wrote a drool-worthy piece (especially for Dhoni fans) about the OCD of Indian cricket.

Anand Vasu, a fine writer who, in my opinion, does not write often enough, puts forth his views on the two Indian Test captains - Kumble and Dhoni.

On a similar note, Peter Roebuck chimes in, determined not to be left behind in the Dhoni bandwagon stakes, with a nicely written piece (no surprise there) comparing the Aussie skipper to the stop-gap Indian captain.

Continuing on this theme, Prem Panicker takes the CricInfo article referred to above, and continues on with his impressions of Dhoni.

This, too, is a personality trait that is yet to be tested under real fire—but this other thing? A calm, collected public demeanor? That’s for real, and that’s likely in the long run to prove to be his single biggest asset. Consider these two clips from the Cricinfo piece:

His 100% win record is safe but Dhoni isn’t shouting triumphantly from the rooftops just yet. “Playing [just] one Test and hitting a half century, you get an average of 50. So is the case if you hit a 100,” Dhoni said, moments after securing India’s biggest victory in terms of runs. “Your performance is counted over a longer duration of the game. I got my chance here but it was a team effort.”

Dhoni, however, has the Midas touch and it was summed up best when he asked the debutant Amit Mishra to go round the stumps in the last over of the second day. Mishra bowled an accurate wrong’un to trap Michael Clarke in front and one was reminded of the ploy to give Joginder Sharma the final over of the World Twenty20 final. But Dhoni, to the amusement of all present, only said, “Fluke tha yaar [It was a fluke].”

An ability to take the game seriously without taking himself seriously is invaluable.

On a final note, I just love this ad featuring Dhoni and Shah Rukh Khan!