All the movie buffs and especially Mahi fans would remember the last scene of “M.S.Dhoni: The Untold Story” where the on-screen Dhoni hits the ball for six and In Ravi Shastri’s Voice, the epic lines encored “Dhoni finishes off in style”. We all thought that the story was in no way over. Sometimes Bollywood over does sequels but If there was a Biography which demanded one, it was this one. If I was writing the script somewhere sitting in heaven, then the ending would have been crystal clear in my mind. ICC World Cup 2019 Finals, Last ball and Six runs required for Team India to lift the World Cup. Dhoni is on strike and he gears up to face it. The ball is full and he unleashes his signature helicopter shot which sends the ball into the grandstand, and sends all of India into a frenzy with Newspapers flashing the headline ”The Finisher finishes off in Style”. Alas, It was not to be. India couldn’t reach the finals and all the hopes of an epic farewell to a legend of the game were flushed down the drain.
Whatever little I know of Dhoni as a fan, he has always been a quick thinker be it in the game or in his life. The India Tour of Australia 2014–15 was a very difficult one for any Indian Cricket Fan. Firstly, the sad news of Phil Hughes’s death and then, the way India was bashed by Australia. After the Third Test in which India earned a hard-fought draw, M S Dhoni casually walked in the press conference and answered all the questions posed by the journalists. It was 30 December 2014 and on the same day, the bomb dropped. Through a press release, Dhoni had not only stepped down as the Test Captain but also, announced his retirement from the format. It was quite a shock. Even after it being a disappointing tour, there were not many calling for his head. Maybe, the 2015 World Cup was the focus at that time. Even his biggest critics were asking for him to just step down as Captain. Also, the next Test series was after the World Cup and then, we had a great run of home series lined up which India would have been favourites to win. But he had a different thought. He later went on to state that He was unable to take the strains of playing all the formats and now, wants to just focus on the shorter formats.
It was a decision he took on that day and let all the nation know on the same day itself. Another incident that comes storming into my mind is about how he left his captaincy in shorter formats. There were surely some rumours going around in the late 2016 and with Dhoni having mixed results lately, the calls for him to hand over the reins to his successor in Virat Kohli was increasing day by day. It was 4th January 2017, when again in Dhoni style, he caught everyone by surprise by announcing that he has decided to step down from the captaincy. He again caught us off-guard with this one.
What’s the point of bringing up these stories from the past? It is something that came up by the current enigma surrounding the future of Dhoni. He’s been a great of the game and even if he does announce his retirement tomorrow nobody can question his legendary stature. But looking at the above examples, something doesn’t seem right this time around. Following the above lead, Most of us would have imagined him putting out a press release on 10th July 2019 announcing the end of his illustrious career. But that didn’t happen. To state a fact, it has not happened to the day this article was being written. The question that emerges out of this is whether Dhoni is still considering to play for India at T20 World Cup 2020 or are we just over analysing and giving false hopes?
Dhoni has not been in touch with the game since that dreadful day in the World Cup 2019. He went and served in the Army for 2 weeks in August. Thus, he went on to miss the West Indies Tour and Subsequently was left out from the home series against South Africa and Bangladesh. Even the biggest of Dhoni fans would agree that if he’s really interested in coming back, its high time he started playing some cricket. There have been recent reports on how he might start training with Jharkhand U-19 and aim for a comeback in January. The problem is that there are no shorter formats available during that time. So, either he turns out for Jharkhand in Ranji Trophy, which looks highly unlikely or He’s pitching all his hopes on a good IPL 2020.
Amongst all this, the role of the Team Management also comes to mind. What have Ravi Shastri and Virat Kohli thought about this situation? The fact that Pant has flattered to deceive in the recent games just increases their headache. The team is looking out for options now. The management has to decide for once and all whether MSD is in their plans or not. Waiting till IPL 2020 would not help the team in preparing for the big World Cup. If MSD is not an option, then they should start grooming the next back up options be it Ishan Kishan or Sanju Samson.
Mahendra Singh Dhoni has been a legend of the game. He has led us to the glory of Two World Cups as a Captain. He has always enchanted us by his lightning-quick hands behind the stumps. Nobody can take away these things from him, whether he decides to carry on or not. He’s one whose name will be forever associated with the greats of the game. Still, Somewhere in your heart, you have to believe that there may be the last hurrah left for this great man and some may hope it’s the T20 World Cup 2020.
