MS Dhoni, Please Retire! It pains me to say this as a Dhoni fan, but it’s time Captain Cool calls it quits
Given his recent performance, MS Dhoni should hang up his gloves while some people still say, but why? Not when everyone is demanding, but why not!
Idolising a cricketer is weird, mainly because their success feels like your success — and when they fail, it hurts you just as much. The Dhoni fanboys who worship Captain Cool and have been by his side ever since he began playing in 2005 are now working overtime on Twitter and Facebook, digging up statistics and somehow trying their best to justify Dhoni’s poor performance in the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup taking place in England.
In yesterday's #INDvENG match, #Pandya and #Dhoni had the best strike rate.. 136 and 135..Despite, a 6+ asking run rate from 1st over, #Kohli 's SR is 86 and #Rohit 's SR is 93.. Noone is blaming #Kohli and #Rohit..Same way, don't blame #Dhoni - He can't have 300 as his SR!
— Ramesh Bala (@rameshlaus) July 1, 2019
Social media is sharply divided into Dhoni fanboys and Dhoni haters — both countering each other’s arguments, with the former bringing up the numbers of times Dhoni has chased a high score and won the match for India, and the latter bringing up Dhoni’s current performance, which, frankly, isn’t his best.
The social media hullaballoo aside, I have a pertinent question that I want to ask all MSD fans — how do you think Dhoni performed in the last 5 overs, really, in the match against England? Did you not see a clear lack of intent to win the match? Wasn’t it evident that Dhoni wasn’t really that keen on chasing the score?
Dhoni would have thrown the player out of the team, had a senior player played such innings like dhoni himself did, if he was the captain..
— Kaizer (@AjaySasthry) June 30, 2019
The commentator, Sourav Ganguly, said something during the match which resonated with a lot of people — ‘You cannot chase 338 [runs] and lose with 5 wickets in hand’. Any level-headed cricket analyst would agree with Ganguly’s statement because 315/all out is better than a score of 300/5 after 50 overs.
The clear lack of intent evident in Dhoni was enough to baffle Dhoni fanboys and Dhoni haters alike — but what was more baffling was Dhoni taking singles when a boundary is what was clearly required to win the match! Again, Sourav Ganguly said ‘I have no explanation for this’ and Nasir Hussain, clearly baffled, remarked, ‘I don’t understand what Dhoni is doing, at least give it a go! Now, the fans are leaving’.
This is not the first match where Dhoni’s batting has become a subject of deep criticism. Dhoni’s 52-ball-28 and dismissal against Afghanistan had left the fans fuming, so much so that even Sachin Tendulkar had expressed his disappointment with the partnership between Dhoni and Kedhar Jadhav.
In my opinion thus, it’s time Dhoni put his gloves up to rest and retired from ODI cricket format.
He is way past his prime and doesn’t seem in good form. Maybe Dhoni can take a cue from Yuvraj Singh and nicely call it quits — as they say, leave while they ask, why; not when they demand, why not.
A question may arise, of course, as to who will replace Dhoni.
Dinesh Kartik is a promising player who is also a finisher and should replace MSD if he were to retire. The young lad hasn’t played much and deserves a chance to make his mark in the spotlight.
I know Dhoni fanboys will struggle to swallow this bitter pill — but the sooner they do it, the better it is.
You have given us some of the best memories with your cricket, MSD. Watching you hit sixes after sixes is a fond memory of every 20-something millennial today. We want you to go down in history as a legend — not as a cricketer who tried too hard and failed.
So, while there’s still time, put your gloves to rest. Legends don’t need to prove themselves multiple times anyway.