What's common between a captain and a wicket-keeper ?
When they are at their best; they are invisible.
Have you noticed that the wicket keeper is prominently noticed when he goofs up? Like a dropped catch or a mis-field that goes for four.
If he collects every ball as he should or catches a batsman out , well that's his job !!
So the sign of a really good keeper is that he doesn't get noticed.
Similarly a captain gets into limelight most often when something's not going the way it should.
Now combine these two things and you have yourself a hell of a job. Now add 'Indian' in front of these 2 skills and you have even more trouble coming your way (I don't need to explain why!!)
So when the whole nation calls M.S. Dhoni the 'captain cool', it is not without a reason. Very rarely have we seen in Indian cricket a player so unanimously accepted as a captain by the whole country without even a tinge of objection. Even more rarely have we seen the player respond to this trust with so much consistency and with so much calmness.
A very important reason why Dhoni has become the most successful captain in India's cricket history is the simple fact that Leadership is always by choice and never by force. The captain has to feel that he can lead his team to victory and at the same time all the other players have to share the same belief about the captain. And this is where M.S. scores big time. Be it T20, ODIs or test, players seem to respond to him and that is the essence of our success for last few years.
Another aspect where he gathers a lot of respect (and this quality is my personal favorite) is his honesty and ability to criticize himself and his team. I think we heard some of the most straight forward statements from Dhoni in last couple of years.
'If you want to irritate someone that should be the opposition and not your side.' to Shreesanth or ''Lets be honest, we are not going to be the best fielding side" such comments had been unheard of before Dhoni stepped into captaincy.
Even with players like Sachin, VVS, Kumble, Zaheer, for a long time what was missing in Indian cricket was the leadership. Ganguly started the modern aggressive style of captaincy; Dravid, Kumble carried it with their own unique dignified style for a bit and now it rests with Dhoni. And with Dhoni it rests for good. This is the best thing that could've happened to Indian cricket; a strong, balanced and shrewd captain. The captain who can take the team to a new high level; the one who can induce confidence into players that they can achieve what others might consider impossible.
With batting lineup other teams can only dream of; quality bowlers and the best possible captain to lead the troops, Now is the time to dominate over the Cricketing universe; now is our time;
I am sure I represent all of the Indians when I say this.
What we are seeing now is just a beginning of an era. Team India is THE team; blue is THE color and Dhoni is THE captain. Indian cricket is in very good hands.
Cheers to that !
When they are at their best; they are invisible.
Have you noticed that the wicket keeper is prominently noticed when he goofs up? Like a dropped catch or a mis-field that goes for four.
If he collects every ball as he should or catches a batsman out , well that's his job !!
So the sign of a really good keeper is that he doesn't get noticed.
Similarly a captain gets into limelight most often when something's not going the way it should.
Now combine these two things and you have yourself a hell of a job. Now add 'Indian' in front of these 2 skills and you have even more trouble coming your way (I don't need to explain why!!)
So when the whole nation calls M.S. Dhoni the 'captain cool', it is not without a reason. Very rarely have we seen in Indian cricket a player so unanimously accepted as a captain by the whole country without even a tinge of objection. Even more rarely have we seen the player respond to this trust with so much consistency and with so much calmness.
A very important reason why Dhoni has become the most successful captain in India's cricket history is the simple fact that Leadership is always by choice and never by force. The captain has to feel that he can lead his team to victory and at the same time all the other players have to share the same belief about the captain. And this is where M.S. scores big time. Be it T20, ODIs or test, players seem to respond to him and that is the essence of our success for last few years.
Another aspect where he gathers a lot of respect (and this quality is my personal favorite) is his honesty and ability to criticize himself and his team. I think we heard some of the most straight forward statements from Dhoni in last couple of years.
'If you want to irritate someone that should be the opposition and not your side.' to Shreesanth or ''Lets be honest, we are not going to be the best fielding side" such comments had been unheard of before Dhoni stepped into captaincy.
Even with players like Sachin, VVS, Kumble, Zaheer, for a long time what was missing in Indian cricket was the leadership. Ganguly started the modern aggressive style of captaincy; Dravid, Kumble carried it with their own unique dignified style for a bit and now it rests with Dhoni. And with Dhoni it rests for good. This is the best thing that could've happened to Indian cricket; a strong, balanced and shrewd captain. The captain who can take the team to a new high level; the one who can induce confidence into players that they can achieve what others might consider impossible.
With batting lineup other teams can only dream of; quality bowlers and the best possible captain to lead the troops, Now is the time to dominate over the Cricketing universe; now is our time;
I am sure I represent all of the Indians when I say this.
What we are seeing now is just a beginning of an era. Team India is THE team; blue is THE color and Dhoni is THE captain. Indian cricket is in very good hands.
Cheers to that !
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