Dhoni meets India's need for strong leaders
Indian cricket has rarely had a true leader says Rajdeep Sardesai, writing in CNN-IBN blogs , with royalty dominating the role in the early years
Nikita Bastian
25-Feb-2013
Indian cricket has rarely had a true leader says Rajdeep Sardesai, writing in CNN-IBN blogs, with royalty dominating the role in the early years. India's captain courageous MS Dhoni, who has drawn on the Sourav Ganguly legacy, fits the bill perfectly though he says.
Dhoni has brought a remarkable Zen-like calmness to a fiercely high-pressure job. In the last three years as Indian captain, one doesn't recall a single instance where Dhoni has really let his guard down or allowed himself to be carried away by the surround sound which is now part of the game ... He's even publicly admitted to his mistakes, an all too rare quality in our leaders.
India could not have won the Cup without Dhoni, writes Ramiz Raja in the Daily News and Analysis. According to him, you can rave about other performers in the team but they are dwarfed by Dhoni’s impact on the tournament.
He may have never crossed his limits with Tendulkar or Sehwag, but that did not make him a soft captain. In fact, he was not shy to throw a challenge at his men after the South Africa collapse, when in a shielded manner, he denounced the penchant of a few to play more for the gallery than the cause of the team.
Captaincy, besides other things, is about straight talk and issuing timely warnings to players. India never looked back in the tournament after that siren was sounded by Dhoni.
Nikita Bastian is a sub-editor at ESPNcricinfo