Ticket collector to a true leader!
9 April 2011, 10:04 PM
INDIA’S Cricket captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni is a true leader. He led from the front in high-stress conditions to help India beat neighbours Sri Lanka and win the Cricket World Cup for the second time, after a long gap of 28 years.
There couldn’t be better endorsement for Dhoni’s outstanding capabilities than from the world’s best batsmen and international icon Sachin Tendulkar and outgoing national team coach Gary Kirsten. While Sachin said that MSD is the best captain he has played under, Kirsten said that the skipper not only leads by example and puts in maximum effort on the field but also feels it the most when the team loses.
“Dhoni is a leader by example. I have never seen a player give as much effort to every game. He leads by example. He is the 100 per cent man. I’ve never seen him lose his temper. He loves taking responsibility and when the team loses, no one feels it more than him,” said Kirsten. “He is a great leader. He is the captain for next few years, no doubt.”
Dhoni started off as an extravagantly flamboyant and destructive batsman, but soon transformed himself into a cool and sharp mind which has helped win his team nearly every major trophy worth winning. India won the 2007 ICC World Twenty20, CB Series of 2007–08, the Border-Gavaskar Trophy in 2008 and 2010 against Australia 2–0. Under his captaincy India acheived numero one ranking in Tests. His Test, ODI record is best among all the Indian captains up to date. He also captained his club team Chennai Super Kings to victory in IPL 2010 and followed it up with the Champions League title in the same year.
He is now captain of India in all three forms of the game and also led the team to their first ever bilateral ODI series wins in Sri Lanka and New Zealand. Under Dhoni’s captaincy India became the first team after a gap of more than 20 years to clean sweep Australia in the Test series. Dhoni also led team India to number one position in ICC rankings in Test cricket for the first time. Dhoni has also been the recipient of many awards including the ICC ODI Player of the Year award in 2008 and 2009 (the first Indian player to achieve this feat), the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna award and the Padma Shri, India’s fourth highest civilian honour in 2009.
Born in Ranchi, Bihar (now in Jharkhand) Dhoni was a ticket collector with South-Eastern Railways and a football goalie before venturing into cricket. A fan of Australian cricketer Adam Gilchrist, one of his childhood idols was, ironically, team mate Sachin Tendulkar.
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