People call the most successful captain of India the coolest cricketer ever. His ability to remain calm along with his big match temperament makes him an asset to any team that he plays for. Many don’t see the man behind the scenes, the kind of sacrifices that he makes personally and professionally. Today we look at 5 reasons why MS Dhoni is the most unselfish cricketer ever
1. Country Before Family
Imagine a man who does not get to see his newborn for over a month! While the Indian captain was away in Australia on national duty he was blessed with a baby girl back home. Dhoni did have an opportunity to go back home and he was perfectly entitled to do as the long tour of Australia had come to an end. There was a window of close to 3 weeks before the World Cup started. Instead of going home Dhoni being the unselfish man that he is stayed backed with the team. Wondering why? This brings us to the next point.
2. Team Before Luxury
While most of the players were enjoying a holiday before the World Cup, the Indian captain took it upon himself to take his injured and battered pace unit for a ‘boot camp’. The players included Ishant Sharma,Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Mohit Sharma, all of whom were unsure of their chances of playing in the tournament. Now imagine a player with all the insecurities of injury and a place in the team to be singled out by the captain for such individual attention. It is no surprise why the Indian pace unit is firing in all cylinders!
3. NOT Playing The Mr.Popular
It is the easiest thing in the World to succumb to praise and adulation and play Mr.Popular when the team is doing well. Post the 2011 World Cup, infact immediately after being crowned champions Dhoni hinted at rebuilding the team for it to look ahead. It were mostly unpopular choices which included the exclusion of champions like Sehwag, Gambhir and Yuvraj out of the team, most of whom are Dhoni’s peers. He received a lot of criticsm and flak for leaving them out, it possibly caused him his personal friendships with them too. But one just has to look at the way the team is performing now to appreciate those tough calls.If this is not being unselfish, then what is?
4. Stays Away From The Limelight
After winning so many tournaments and so many trophies the man always shies away from all the limelight. Just have a look at all the team photos of celebrating with the trophy after all the wins of the t20 world cup, champions trophy and the 2011 world cup, you will find the man somewhere in the corner almost difficult to spot (yes Google it and see it for yourself). This only proves one thing: Dhoni puts his team before himself, which is the quality that all exceptional leaders have.
5. Test Retirement
Considering that he is the most successful captain for India in Test matches, his retirement from the format came like a bolt from the blue for most. All said and done he could have demanded for a grand farewell from the BCCI and zillions of his fans would have wanted that. Dhoni in fact chose not to and quietly announced his retirement from the 5 day format. He felt that the team could do better without him whereas nobody would have raised a finger to remove him as the test captain especially after India’s show in the World Cup.
Talk about selflessness. Talk about Mahendra Singh Dhoni.
By Ashirbad Hazarika
