Dhoni - Man with a Midas Touch

During the year 2004-05,India was looking for a Wicket keeping batsman after Rahul Dravid decided not to keep wickets rather to concentrate on batting...In comes a swashbuckling batting - keeper from Ranchi,a village, named M.S.Dhoni with long hair...Though his first few matches were not up to the mark,the team management didn't lose faith in him...Sent in at No.3 against the Pakistani attack,he made a blitzkrieg 144 and was going strong from there...

He was a very ordinary keeper and a batsman with unusual skills....Soon,this guy gained popularity..Whatever he does becomes popular,even if he goes for a haircut...He was celebrated all round India because of his huge and unusual sixes...No one had any clue as to how hit sixes...
Indians went to World Cup,2007 with lots of hope but the dreams were shattered with first round exit...As we all know the people of India,they would have everyone in their head and with a failure they would be thrown out...The same thing happened to Dhoni,he was celebrated by every individual and after a failure in the Caribbean his house was wrecked and his effigies were burnt...

The Indians were not able to get sponsors for their forthcoming tours after the debacle at World Cup...However,they got one and flown to England..Won Test Series for the first time and gained a little confidence of the Indian Public...The next assignment for the Indians was T20 world cup,which is to be held for the first time,was the turning point of Cricket..All the senior players walked out of the squad for WC and it was a bunch of youngsters who came into the squad....And,Surprise,Dhoni was made the captain pipping Yuvraj,who was a senior to Dhoni....

India won the world cup because of stupendous performance by the youngsters led by Yuvraj...No one gave a chance for these youngsters to win the title but after the conclusion of T20 WC,they won the hearts of millions...Another important reason for the win should be attributed to Dhoni...He was really instrumental for the triumph because of his cool attitude and he maneuvered the youngsters well...

During the course of the T20 WC,Dravid announced that he would not be the captain anymore...And to concentrate on batting...The BCCI had no option other than to make Dhoni as the captain as the senior players were not interested to take the offer....

The first assignment for Dhoni,as the ODI captain,was against the Australians at home in which he faired well...Everyone began to admire his captaincy...It was when Indians toured Down under that he dropped Ganguly and Dravid,which raised a lot of criticisms....But,Dhoni was not done in by it...In fact, Indians won the ODI series in Australia for the first time and Dhoni was instrumental to it because of his field placements and also because of better fielders in the squad...And,the Aussies were done in by the fire like youngsters and The Master Sachin...His Moves were Vindicated...

Everyone thought that it was because of his luck he is winning the matches as captain...But,IPL was the one which made the critics realise that it was not because of luck that he is winning but because of his talent...He took his team[Chennai Super Kings]to the final,which had no great players after Hayden and Hussey flown back to Australia for their national duties...And, it was almost a toothless attack but he made it to the final and almost won it...This shows the attitude of this man...He was as cool as a cucumber in pressure situations...He was also considered as a big asset with the big gloves as the days passed by and is not the same Dhoni with the bat that we know...He began to consolidate and score most of his runs in singles rather than depending on Sixes..

He was also made the captain of Indian Test team after the retirement of Kumble...And is doing a great job..And till now,he hasn't lost a match{22/12/08}as Skipper...He won all the four encounters that he faced...So far he has been doing an excellent job for India.. Hope that he takes the team to greater heights...Dhoni has also found a lot of youngsters who could do well in International arena like Rohit Sharma,Ishant Sharma,Amit Mishra,Badrinath etc..

Got a news that the people of Ranchi are planning to build a temple for Dhoni...Stupidity at its best...The people themselves would damage them,if the Indians doesn't do well..So far,he has been a man with a midas touch..Whatever he touches or do turns into gold..We'll see how long he could sustain with it... These are good times for India but once the bad patch comes it would be interesting to see how Dhoni handles it..