The only man in the world whose status toggles between Zero and Hero nearly every minute is M S Dhoni, the Indian Cricket team’s captain. Today the outcome of the India – Australia match will decide his final status for a few days, but during the match, it will be constantly fluctuating. Phew !!
The title of this blog is exactly how the last over of Pandya was thought of … Bangladesh played really well and with 12 runs to get in the last over, MSD decides to get the young Pandya to bowl. His rating was a Zero at that time because Pandya had given away too many runs earlier and everyone felt this gamble won’t pay off. First ball, as soon as the four was hit, a collective drop in MSD’s rating happened. Some reprieve when no run was scored off the 2nd ball and then the 3rd ball boundary nearly sealed Dhoni’s Zero rating. Then the wicket, back to Hero, then another wicket, back to Hero and after that unbelievable sprint for the 3rd wicket of the over just put him firmly into the Hero’s slot. For me, Dhoni was a Hero for his post match reply to that journalist for his dumb question that showed the journalist’s “zero” grey matter !
Dhoni is undoubtedly gifted. Many of his decisions on the field show his uncanny ability to sniff out a victory. I wrote about his insincerity in Dec 2014 and drew much flak – Insincerity – MSD and Shashi Tharoor. .. I re-read what I had written then and I don’t think I was wrong. This is a champion who has his bouts of being a “non-champion” and bouts of insincerity. Much water has flown down the proverbial bridge since then – there is no CSK anymore, I wonder why and what associations to draw. We don’t know if betting has been rooted out of the IPL but there are bigger problems with the Delhi cricket association and many other areas of cricket that seem to be top of the mind.
Will Dhoni go down in the history books as the greatest Indian cricket captain ? Maybe, maybe not. He will certainly be discussed long after he stops playing the game and that’s probably what should worry him – will his lore be one of praise and awe or an example of what not to do at the peak of your chosen career…fascinating.
Sincerely hoping India wins today …. And Dhoni remains a Hero.
Nice point madam,
Public brand the celebrity with hero, zero ratings more often than necessary,
If a man like Dhoni sustain that non sense, then he is a Hero.