Bhushan Raj Selvaraj

On a summer evening in 2010, there was a first cricket match at Dharamshala with the scenic Himalayan mountains behind the beautiful stadium. The game between Chennai Super Kings (CSK) and Kings XI Punjab (KXI) was inaugurated with the blessings of Dalai Lama. It was a must-win game for CSK to qualify for the semifinal. KXI played splendidly and set a score of 193 to win for CSK. I had an exam the next day on the Basics of Electrical and Electronics which was the most hated subject in my entire college life. I didn’t understand the concepts and didn’t pay attention in classes. But I couldn’t miss the important match of the season. In the high run chase game, CSK kept losing wickets, and the lone man Badrinath was only playing. After all proper batsmen got out, came the captain MS Dhoni. I will never lose hope until MS is in the field. But I lost hope when 29 runs were required in the last 2 overs. Title hopes dashed! Then Dhoni played one of the finest finishes in IPL history, scaled the unsurmountable target, and celebrated with a punch on his face. I was ecstatic with a rush of hormones giving me a feeling like never before. I don’t know if it is the hormones or the tenacity shown by Dhoni, I started studying for the exam like a maniac. I think what I studied that night would have been almost 90% of what I studied for the final exam. This match is etched in my memory as the day when MS Dhoni became a role model for me.

When he first came to the team before 2007 with a long colored hair and unusual playing style, I thought he will just stay in the team for a short time. After scoring 183 against Sri Lanka and string of good scores against Pakistan, I started liking him for his batting. Then came the T20 world cup which he won with his unorthodox captaincy. Like the majority of people, I was also waiting for the period of “Midas-touch” to get over. But he kept winning hearts by collecting stumps as memorabilia after finishing matches for India. The unconventional boy from Ranchi was not blessed with talent but improvised at each stage and kept working hard. The transition from a raw hitter to a shrewd captain playing according to the situation was a learning curve for me as well. I started admiring Dhoni after he took the captaincy role. He taught me that a cricket game can also be won by shrewdness in the field. One such moment was 2010 IPL final when Pollard was on the batting end, Dhoni had a long discussion with Mathew Hayden and Albie Morkel, the bowler. Pollard was almost taking the match away from CSK and they badly needed to take his wicket. After long deliberation, he kept Hayden at straight’ish mid-on despite having a long-on fielder. The commentators were left bemused like the spectators. Who does such a stupid move which has never been done before? Next ball bowled by Morkel, hit by Pollard and exactly landing into the hands of Hayden. That wicket was plotted and executed perfectly just like a chess move.  

There were several such incidents when he played for India and CSK. I would not call these as just moments of sheer luck, because it was not happening occasionally but continuously. Leonard Mlodinow would suggest that even such feats of long success are due to randomness and chance. I agree it to be true with Dhoni’s case as well but he had an edge over others by going the extra mile with a never-say-die attitude. I could see the confidence of the man trusting his abilities, putting himself in tough situations, work hard, and repeating the cycle in every match.

Anyone who has followed his matches would know that he set the bar higher for all future wicket keepers. He was criticized by some veteran wicket keepers for his poor skill behind the wickets in his early career. But by the time he played his last match he is the best wicketkeeper the cricketing world has seen. This is not only due to his quick reflexes but he should have studied how the batsmen move their feet and ball movement to perfectly time the stumping. That’s also the reason why he is successful in DRS reviews. He has taught me that you can overcome your weaknesses if you are willing to study and leverage your strengths to come out successfully.

Post-match presentation speeches are my favorites when MS captains the team. You get to see what goes in his brain while playing telling how he timed and targeted the bowlers, made changes in the bowling, and field set up. Also, his witty replies to the questions with a smile were fun to watch. I remember once he told, “It is the process that matters and not the result. If you work on the process the results would automatically come good”. Win or loss didn’t seem to matter to him much after the game because “After all it is a game of cricket”. He has never been 100% satisfied with the performance. There will be always some comment on improvements that have to be made because the result may have been favorable but the process has a lot of scope for improvement. Backing players even after a string of poor performances, taking everyone together in his journey, and improving them were fine examples of being a great leader.

I wish to have and be a leader like him. I have learned a lot of personality traits from him being humble, thinking calmly in tough situations, taking the pressure off my teammates when working in a group, and believing in my strengths when facing adversities or challenges. There was another incident I remember where I tried to emulate him. It was my second attempt at UPSC Engineering Services Exam in 2014. I was answering the questions slowly taking my time without hurrying to the next. But I kept backing myself that I would be able to catch up in the last 30 mins, as I knew I was tackling the most difficult questions in the initial part and would be able to score quickly in the easier questions. That time I remembered it was exactly similar to how Dhoni builds his innings calculatedly and finishes in a swashbuckling manner in the last overs. I did exactly the same and scored well beyond my expectations. I realized how a sportsperson has the potential to make his followers imbibe his approach towards whatever they do and excel at it. In some small leadership roles, I try to follow his leadership skills taking up the most difficult task and back my teammates to do their best. The calm, commanding and assuring presence that uplifts the entire team is what I aspire to be in my future.

In recent times, his playing level has come down but still, his contribution to the team can be seen visibly. I have used past and present tenses in this essay as I am not able to accept that he will no longer play in the team. I hoped that I would be able to see him play and captain CSK in IPL 2020 and play for India in International T20. Unfortunately, the pandemic has crushed my hopes and I think we have seen the best of Dhoni in the 2019 World Cup. The quickest runner between the wickets lost his wicket in a run-out during a World Cup Semi-final. This showed that age has taken a toll on him. But what he has done for Indian Cricket and his fans will live long forever in their endeavors. I just wish to thank him for being a wonderful role model for me and entertaining me for the past 15 years.

Thank you MS Dhoni!

Wish you a very happy birthday my captain!