Lesson for Dhoni 'fans': Don't kick heroes when they're down
Seriously, will Indian cricket fans ever learn? Will they ever be mature enough to appreciate the efforts the players put into every match? Will they ever be a little more patient and more careful about passing judgments, as it were? The answer to these questions, I am afraid, may not be encouraging and it is perhaps the fate of a player in a cricket-crazy nation like India that he will be under perpetual scrutiny. However, when it turns into criticism just for the sake of it, and is bereft of all sense of rationality and reasonableness, it becomes objectionable.
For the past few days, there have been calls for Mahendra Singh Dhoni's head, and I have been appalled by the debate over whether it is time to "kick" him out.
However, as an ardent admirer of Dhoni, I am happy that he has all but silenced his detractors with a swashbuckling and match-winning unbeaten 92 off 86 balls in the second ODI against South Africa in Indore. A series win now will be a slap in the face of those who think Dhoni, the finisher, is finished.
The Indian ODI/T20 captain, who has strode the cricket landscape of the country like a giant since his debut in 2004, perhaps has never had it this tough. India had lost an ODI series to "bachcha" Bangladesh a few months back, and Dhoni found himself at the centre of a major controversy when he almost pulled off a WWE-style charge on the young Bangladeshi bowler Mustafizur Rahman. The knives were starting to get sharpened, and after India's loss to South Africa in the recently-concluded T20 series, especially the abysmal capitulation at Cuttack and indeed the loss to the Proteas in the first match of the ongoing ODI series at Kanpur, people were convinced that Dhoni's time at the helm of Team India was all but over.
The loss at the Kanpur ODI was blamed largely on Dhoni and the Indian captain was made the subject of considerable ridicule on Twitter. Fans (and even some "experts") believed that Dhoni was no longer the clinical finisher he used to be. He had almost single-handedly bailed Team India out of difficult situations on numerous occasions in the past and helmed many an improbable chase. However, the Kanpur ODI was one occasion where he could not, falling in the last over, and failing to get his team over the line. India lost the match by a whisker.
The fans, already spellbound by the street-smart, aggressive and flamboyant Test skipper Virat Kohli, under whom India had won a historic Test series in Sri Lanka last month, seemed to have had enough of Dhoni. In an instant, they forgot all that Dhoni had done for Indian cricket over the years. Here was a man whom the fans now loved to hate. It was certainly not the man over whom they went gaga as he tore a Sri Lankan attack apart during a murderous knock of 183 ten years ago, or who took the Pakistanis to the cleaners during the tour of the neighbouring country the next year. It was not the man who was the darling of the fans as he led from the front in the World Cup final in 2011, anchoring a stiff chase with incredible expertise, or led India to the World T20 crown in 2007.
Granted that patience is not a virtue that the Indian cricket fan possesses, and also that in this age of reckless competition, only performance, and performance alone counts for anything worthwhile and that nobody is irreplaceable. It is the corporate culture which has come to define the present day and age and there is hardly any profession that is immune to its influence. Indeed a legend like Matthew Hayden had to make way when the Australian selectors thought he was past his prime.
However, if it is left to the Indian fans, they would change the composition of the team every other day. These were the fans that had written the obituaries of the careers of Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly, Virender Sehwag, only having to eat their words later. They perhaps don't realise that it is easy to comment and "pass judgments" sitting in front of TV sets in the comfort of their drawing rooms. Perhaps it is a price cricketers (and cricket itself) have to pay for their popularity in India. These are fans who will garland you one day and pelt stones at your house the other day. Dhoni knows this only too well, and stones have been pelted at Dhoni's house before. Yes, that is the price for the popularity.
Here's how it took Dhoni, who had been a joke on Twitter lately, just one match to turn into a hero on the social networking site and even the "experts" joined in lavishing praise on the Indian ODI/T20 captain:
This is a special win for India and especially for Dhoni. What a game!
— Harsha Bhogle (@bhogleharsha) October 14, 2015Still believe this is the best role for Dhoni. Batting at run a ball for the innings and then finishing. Not just going out and going wham..
— Harsha Bhogle (@bhogleharsha) October 14, 2015Bro @imVkohli now you score runs or don't but you can't become captain for next one year. Coz today Dhoni has defeated u by Dhobhi Pachaad.
— Kamaal R Khan-KRK (@kamaalrkhan) October 14, 2015Now we will see the Dhoni critics also say that 'Dhoni has silenced his critics'
— Sanjay Manjrekar (@sanjaymanjrekar) October 14, 2015On a serious note, i give a lot of value to captaincy while defending low totals. Dhoni has been spot on today! Really good one!
— Keh Ke Peheno (@coolfunnytshirt) October 14, 2015I thought Dhoni's time was over, that age has caught up with him. He proved me wrong. I can now hope that I can similarly prove myself wrong
— The Bad Doctor (@doctoratlarge) October 14, 2015Almost had given up on Dhoni, but then he comes back again, and again...
— Gabbbar (@GabbbarSingh) October 14, 2015Dhoni saved us from one more TV debate on Dhoni! #IndvsSA
— Satish Acharya (@satishacharya) October 14, 2015Dhoni answers all his critics in fine style! #Indiawins #INDvSA
— Vikram Chandra (@vikramchandra) October 14, 2015Are unreasonable "fans" to be taken seriously though? After India's 22-run victory at Indore, Dhoni rightfully hit back at the detractors and said that there were a lot of "people who wait with open swords and want him to make mistakes". However, every Indian cricket fan, and perhaps even the biggest Dhoni-baiter knows the worth, weight and class of Mahendra Singh Dhoni. It is time for those baying for Dhoni's blood to put their swords back into their sheaths and just take a break.