15th Aug 2020, Mahi or MS
or MSD or Thala’s retirement date from International Cricket. Not so
astonishing, but he continued with his low-profile approach even while announcing
his retirement through an Instagram post. Captain Cool as he is popularly known
has put an end to the continuous discussions about his retirement post India’s exit
from the 2019 World Cup. But very less people would be aware of the fact that
he took a sabbatical from cricket and joined his regiment in the Territorial
Army as he couldn’t digest his run-out incident in the semi-final match against
New Zealand. The last two inches to the crease which he couldn’t make it on
that day was haunting him like anything. Making it to the play-offs for the eleventh
time in the IPL history seems to be pretty difficult for him now and the
critics have not missed a single moment to raise questions about his captaincy
and batsmanship. However, Dhoni has been transparent and admitted about the process
gaps during a conversation with his Chennai Super Kings fans and potentially gearing
up for the next IPL season. Such is the aura of the India’s greatest ever cricket
leader who accepts loss with grace even after earning the Winners’ tag in three
major ICC Championships.
The journey of this small-town boy
from Ranchi must be a dream for him prior to 2004 but he has turned it to a
reality. His ethics, personality and way of leadership is certainly a
case-study for management professionals as well as business conglomerates. His leadership
style undoubtedly offers invaluable lessons to all people managers at all
levels. Many of us many a times have realized that leadership is not about a
position or designation but an attitude. It’s all about making a difference to
one’s own self and others. Handing over the last over to a non-regular bowler
named Joginder Sharma in the first ICC Twenty-20 World Cup against the
arch-rivals Pakistan stunned the cricketing pundits of the world and the rest
is history, thus led to the evolution of one of the best ever cricketing brains
in world cricket and an unconventional leader. The triangular series win
against Australia in Australia in 2008 was a redefining moment in India’s cricketing
history as a young Indian side under the charismatic leadership of Dhoni
defeated the mighty Aussies in their own backyard which was next to impossible
during that time. He has built a culture of fearlessness attitude and raised the
confidence quotient to the highest degree within the team. He promoted himself
up in the batting order during the finals of 2011 ICC Cricket World Cup and
steered India to victory when he was not in his prime form, thus leading by example
from the front basically when it mattered the most. When Rohit Sharma was going
through mediocre performances in the earlier part of his cricketing career,
Dhoni promoted Rohit as an opener. Needless to say, but that very decision is still
paying rich dividends to Indian cricket. Dhoni has the uncanny ability to
identify the spark in his team members and later capitalizes on it. Since then Rohit
has never looked back and is currently regarded as one of the most explosive openers
in world cricket. The world was in a state of shock in ICC Champions Trophy
2013 Final when Dhoni gave the ball to Ishant Sharma in a crunch situation, who
got smacked all around the park in his previous over. Believe me or not, Ishant
picked up two valuable wickets that eventually led to India winning the
championship. Dhoni’s enormous trust on his team-members is second to none and
is very much needed in any team. In ICC World Twenty20 2016, his tactical
prowess came to the fore when he did the unthinkable while keeping, with
Bangladesh needing two runs off the last ball, he decided not to wear his right
glove. He collected the ball in his right hand and ran himself towards the
stumps to get the run-out executed in a nail-bitter finish at Bangalore. It exactly
happened as he scripted. His immaculate strategy puts himself in the category
of the finest readers of the game. No matter what the situation is, MS stays calm
and composed every time and instills the same in his team also. When he
realized that Wriddhiman Saha can fill his shoes in the Test Cricket side, he hung
his boots in the midst of the Australian Tour. He has played a vital role in
the emergence of Virat as a leader and moved out from the captaincy role at the
right juncture. This speaks volumes of a leader who nurtures future players and
leaders too. As a true servant of Indian cricket, he drew attention of the
Selection Committee about the fitness issue of the senior players thereby
raising eyebrows among the public. Brickbats were hurled at him and even his effigies
were burnt but as a visionary leader, he was thinking ahead of times only for
the betterment of Indian cricket.
I may not be wrong in stating that few sports analytics companies by now would have created AI/ML models to analyze his on-field leadership tactics. In a nutshell, Dhoni as India’s
cricket captain has displayed true facets of leadership which all people managers
across domains can imbibe and get their style enriched. It’s high
time for Corporate India to learn from this unconventional yet astute leader.
I would end by putting one of his famous quotes – “To be a great leader, you
need to go down the untraveled path for others to follow”.
