Mahi’s Impeccable Leadership – A Case Study!!

15^th 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”.