MS Dhoni: hitting the immortal shot

History will forever remember Mahendra Singh Dhoni's six to win the 2011 ICC Cricket World Cup, a moment caught by cameramen in a silver screen-style, eyes firmly set on the white ball soaring across the night sky. Indeed, the former Indian skipper finished the game in style at the Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai. In 2011, the Indian team reaped the benefits of having Dhoni the strategist, Dhoni the batsman, and Dhoni the stumper all in the peak of their powers. It was a rare alignment of stars. 

The story of the former Indian captain is not of trophies, but that of hope. The memories of the 2016 ICC Twenty 20 World Cup are still fresh in the minds of every Indian cricket fan. The quarter-finals saw India take on Bangladesh at the Chinnaswamy stadium in Bengaluru, India. With the final ball of the match set to be bowled by Hardik Pandya, the atmosphere was tense. Surely, Pandya must be thinking of bowling a bouncer? With two runs required, he charged in and bowled outside the off-stump, the swinging bat of Shuvagata Hom missed the ball completely, and MS Dhoni with a glove off gathered the ball and charged towards the stumps. The attempt for a run by the Bangladeshi batsmen was unsuccessful and the Chinnaswamy crowd erupted in jubilation. Dhoni's strategy had worked, and India hung in till the very end and won the game. The hopes and beliefs among the fans are this: when Dhoni stays on the crease, India wins. 

The famed cricketer will be remembered for many match-winning innings, but it is worth noting that in his first innings, Dhoni was dismissed for a duck, caught in a hasty run-out against Bangladesh in 2004. Over the years to come, the small-town boy from Ranchi, India would go on to captain his international side to a total of 199 matches in the ODI format, guiding the side to 110 wins and 74 defeats. In test match cricket, he led India in 60 Test matches and helped the team clinch 27 wins. The Indian team holds a decent record in the T20 format of the game, with 41 victories out of the 72 matches played under his leadership. Dhoni made his international debut for India against Bangladesh in a One Day International (ODI) in 2004. A year later, his test debut came against Sri Lanka in Chennai. As the Indian captain, he was able to add the ICC Cricket World Cup, the T20 World Cup, and the ICC Champions Trophy to his list of achievements.

The fastening of the gloves and bulging of the eyes, a lookup to the heavens, and the helicopter shot: Dhoni's mannerisms are distinctive to any batsman. He set the trend for young cricket fans back in 2006 with his long, wavy hairstyle which even caught former Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf in awe of it. During India's tour of Pakistan in 2006, Musharraf even advised Dhoni to not have a haircut.

But it wasn't just the hairstyle trending. Dhoni's calm attitude, for which he earned the title of 'Captain Cool' is something several cricket players try to emulate both on and off the pitch. With a sharp mind, Dhoni was a captain that saw things as they were. India's tour to England in 2014 saw India collapse in a Test series defeat to Alastair Cook's men. When questioned about his team's red-ball technique, Dhoni's responded with a smile: “Don’t be jealous of the IPL”. His experience in the T20 format of the game has kept him loyally tied to the Indian Premier League (IPL) franchise, Chennai Super Kings (CSK). Sporting the number '7' jersey and with the crowd cheering him as 'Thala' (meaning: The Boss), Dhoni is an icon to the state of Tamil Nadu when in the CSK yellow.

Mahi, as Dhoni is lovingly called didn't play the sport to become popular. From an aspiring goalkeeper to becoming the world's best wicketkeeper, MS was not consumed by the sport. This is further evident from his biopic 'MS Dhoni: The Untold Story' and several interviews and encounters with his fellow cricketers and journalists. The story of Indian's cricket's greatest outsider perhaps. A story worthy of a Bollywood-grandeur style approach even: small-town boy becomes India's captain, the best wicketkeeper in the world, the highest-earning player in the IPL, franchise icon, and a persona beyond comprehension. 

Time is a great teacher and a leveller. For a man who often wrote his own scripts, Dhoni's infamous 2019 World Cup run-out against New Zealand in the semi-final was perhaps an ending of a cycle: having mastered the finer details, he fell short of the crease without any real stretch for the line. Dhoni was mortal after all, and defeat is synonymous with every athlete and such moments were the beauty of these merciless tournaments. Another beauty of Dhoni's career - there is always a "but". With constant debates about his place in the Indian squad, he manages to encapsulate fans of the game with the occasional blistering innings. The impact of it? Media wide discussions about whether he's still the best man for the job. Such is the influence of Mahendra Singh Dhoni, a colossus of modern era cricket.

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