MSD: A lot will always remain untold

What do they know of Dhoni who only Dhoni knows.

There seems nothing wrong in customising the most epic CLR James line from his seminal work ‘Beyond a Boundary’. It fits MS Dhoni to the ‘T’. He could force one to throw the MCC cricket manual in the trash bin with his daredevilry in unorthodox strokeplay.

He could be a role model for all shy and reticent people on how to become an assertive leader. Two world titles meant he didn’t do too badly. And then one fine afternoon, he could stun the world by relinquishing Test captaincy with 10 short of landmark 100 games.

And after another five years and seven months, he literally punches one in the gut on a balmy August 15 evening to say, “from 19.29 hrs, consider me retired”. Just like that. Just like that Lieutenant Colonel Dhoni says over and out, adding to the sense of loss and chaos that 2020 has come to symbolise.

A legend in the art of chasing, who became a megastar in finite cricket, bringing in Sachin Tendulkar’s poise and Virat Kohli’s aggression in optimum proportions. He was a bit of everything and still a bit more but no one could actually comprehend what. Everyone thought they knew Dhoni, but no one knew him. There is a compartment that possibly remains shut. It is for none to see, it is where he probably computes, processes his raw thoughts and emotions while taking a decision.

Retirement may be one such decision, it was his own but he needed to come to terms that the change room is no longer the place where he belongs and it took more than a year since that heart-breaking run out in a lost World Cup semi-final.

Dhoni, despite being a cricket star like no other, was never entirely a cricket story. He was, still is and will always remain a social story. A reflection of times when India’s hinterland started shedding its fears and its inferiority complex while knocking on the doors of an aspirational India.

He wasn’t a social reformer by any stretch of imagination but most certainly, hinterland’s biggest icon after economic liberalisation. Yet he was probably more ‘khadoos’ than any of his contemporaries from Mumbai. Just like the World T20 final in Johannesburg, where lack of bowling options turned into a great punt as Haryana Police’s Joginder Sharma earned his wikipedia page with an over no one can forget.

Dhoni came from the industrial town of Ranchi where a rank in IIT JEE or AIEEE or UPSC, more often than not, defined a young mind. But this man, who arrived with a flowing mane, insanely powerful wrists and a smile that was endearing but gave away nothing. He didn’t display in-your-face aggression but those who have dealt with him knew he would stick to his conviction -- right or wrong, the jury is still out.

Backing Kohli, the Test batsman and Rohit Sharma, the opener destined to become a white ball legend, were fabulous foresights. Indian cricket will remain indebted.