How Dhoni got cornered by Kohli and boys
It is the story of how a small town boy from Ranchi took the pressure of leading the India team with aplomb and never fretted even when adversity faced him in the eyes. But in the last leg of his illustrious career, he is definitely leaving a bad taste in the mouth of his fans. Panic is writ large on his face and the man who never wore his emotions on his sleeves, Dhoni confined himself to his hotel room all of Monday after India lost the series to Bangladesh on Sunday.
Rewind the clock a few years and you had a cricketer who couldn’t care less, be it the back-to-back drubbings in away series’ against England and Australia or the match fixing allegations in the sixth edition of the IPL. In fact, moments after winning the World T20 in 2007, Dhoni had said that post the drama of India’s early exit in the 2007 World Cup — fans had pelted stones at his Ranchi home — he had learnt to not take emotions too seriously and believed in the practical approach.
But if that is how he functions and if that brought him success, why did the man who is known to have had the door of his hotel room open 24X7 for his teammates, decide to lock himself up inside his room at the Pan Pacific Sonargaon on Monday? Is it a clear sign that this team no longer belongs to Dhoni? Is it a clear case of not commanding the respect that he used to from his teammates? Interestingly, a few of the players have already made it obvious that they love the attacking approach that Test skipper Virat Kohli brings to the table.
In fact, team director Ravi Shastri has combined beautifully with Kohli and the team which looked almost toying with Bangladesh during the one-off Test matches now stands completely outplayed in the ODI series. Talks are on that the team is divided and some people want Kohli to take over the reins even in the shorter formats.
Ironically, the emotional side of Dhoni has come to the fore ever since he gave up Test cricket. It all started with this year’s IPL when in one of the matches he was seen shouting at teammate Dwayne Smith for failing to field accurately. Considering the situation of the match and Dhoni's much talked about cool nature, this was definitely unwanted. Then again in the play-offs, the otherwise politically correct Dhoni criticised the umpires for giving a wrong leg-before decision against the same West Indian. This again brought up a side of the captain that is unknown to many.
Is the pressure of leading a side which has tasted a new brand of cricket under Kohli finally starting to haunt the man with the Midas touch? Childhood coach Chanchal Bhattacharya definitely thinks the atmosphere in the dressing room isn’t helping Dhoni’s cause. But then, Kohli has made no bones about the fact that he stands behind his Mahi bhai — as Kohli fondly calls him. But till when?