Kharagpur Made Man

#MSDhoni, #Kharagpur, # IndianCricket

There is something about Kharagpur that is mystic to my mind. There is  Air, Water, Soil, Railways, IIT, old markets, cycle rickshaws, ground, greenery, muggy summers, thunderstorms, cold winters, marshlands and then there is a railway station. It's just another rusty and sleepy town in the eastern Indian country landscape. This  Railway station was renowned for having the longest platform. Landing on that platform to start a career is common to batches of engineers who shaped the future of the country and world.  Vinod Gupta, Arjun Malhotra, Arun Sarin,  Suhas Patil, Sunder Pitchai, Arvind Kejriwal,  just to name a very few among scores of success stories across the sectors. On this platform, another young man started his journey and what journey was it!. Yes, you are right: M S Dhoni is the name.  The story is known to all and  Rest, as they say, is history. Ranchi takes credit but its Kharagpur which made him...

Proud to say I share this connection to MSD and the great names mentioned above. My own connection to MSD started in his debut match when he ran himself out against Bangladesh. He made his debut under Dada (another Bengal connection). They said that this new player with log hair was a big hitter.  He really announced his arrival at the international stage with his innings of 148 against Pakistan. I had watched that innings as had to stay home. It was a day match and yes I liked his style of batting. It was uncomplicated. In Greg Chappell's era, he was used flexibly as a batsman up and down the order. Those were the days of flexible powerplays. Intelligent guy (again Kharagpur effect haha so egotist statement) like Dhoni used that advantage. Remember Jaipur innings of 183 in winning chase. Then under Dravid's leadership, we won big chases in the ODIs. I also remember his innings in tests and ODI in Pak He received a lot of flak for his shot during test loss vs England at Mumbai at that time. His place in the test scheme of things was questioned. He was part of test wins at Jo'berg, Nottingham, and featured also in a saving cause at Lords and he was efficient as a keeper.  Then came in the T20WC and it changed everything. He gained status and entered into household folklores be it 'bowl out' win, 6 sixes, and that famous catch by Sreesanth.  Then came the infamous and racially charged  Australian tour where we won ODIs and Perth test.  The era between 07 t20 WC and 11 CWC was marked by a change in captaincy and retirement of stalwarts except for Sachin.  Then started his bad patch as test captain with disastrous Eng and Aus tours. In 2014 he announced test retirement. While the ODI journey rose from winning meaningless bilateral series, some triangular wins and peaking at CWC and CT wins.  I saw him live during the WorldCup 11. Worldcup win was a magical moment. Another downside was the failure in T20 World cups after the inaugural one. To date the best, we could do was a runnerup position. The next phase was under the captainship of Kohli in limited-overs cricket. He managed a few incredible performances. But then as a batsman, there was steep decline and had curious WC 2019 where he played his last innings again running himself out and breaking a billion dreams. His IPL presence was colossal. He is attributed to the success of CSK despite having a very senior team after CSK return after a ban. He played with the Pune franchise and led it to the finals. That is another connection for me.

The memory list is long...

All these memories have enriched our lives. But also Dhoni as a person has much to offer to enrich our individual thought process and our art of living. The best thing we learn from Dhoni is to keep it simple and keep the right perspective of the larger picture in life. And there always things beyond our control. Strive for excellence as he did in fitness, wicketkeeping, and batting. Always keep thinking. It's not about talent only but making the right choices. The simplicity of the approach helps him decide. Like facing Murali would have been tough for left-hander at Wankhede. Lack of pace of Joginder will make Misbah forcing the issue through shot selection. Getting an over from expensive Ishant due to the available bounce during CT final. Running out towards stumps to outrun Mustafizur. I can go on and on with examples. Also, his presence of mind, concentration, positive outlook to get something out of every situation, are a few other exemplary points. Look at his calm during defeat and victory. Leadership was exemplary. Wicket Keeping was miles ahead of available Indian and world competition. Batting was unconventional but effective.

This feature cannot be complete without mentioning a few things I don't like about Dhoni. I could not comprehend a few things: his world cup 2019 approach, his favoritism to a certain set of players, and the treatment of seniors. Though we don't know the truth but there is room for speculation that he may have been involved in all this given his big say in the scheme of the theme during Srinivasan tenure. He should have led from the front with batting no 4 in WC 19 but we really don't know if it was Kohli or was he himself involved in this bizarre decision making. His approach in the match vs England also had room for self-doubt. Did he retire too late?

On this Independence day when Sun had set in all the parts of India, Dhoni announced his retirement All said and done, 2020 has given us another sad thing after the demise of on reel MSD: SSR to get over with. We won't see MSD: a Kharagpur (KGP) made man in blue...