Demigods on the field

India’s victory against Australia in the first ODI on Sunday showed a team in its element — Hardik Pandya, in particular, continues to amaze and inspire hope for the future — but it was Mahendra Singh Dhoni who once again showed us what true leadership means.
 
It has often been debated what words of wisdom Dhoni pours into the ears of fellow batsmen when they are on the crease, or other fielders when he takes off his wicket-keeping helmet. Such conversations have often turned the tide of the game. This happened on Sunday too, as Dhoni seemed to calm a restive Pandya with his frequent mutterings, prompting the latter to go on to score a career-best 83.
 
While Dhoni’s soothing effect has always been noticeable, it has become more conspicuous since Virat Kohli became captain of the side. Kohli, who too has mellowed from his earlier, brash avatar, cannot yet match up to Dhoni’s Zen-like persona. Scenes of Kohli losing it on the field and mouthing expletives may have become fewer but have not entirely stopped.
 
Before Dhoni, Sachin Tendulkar was another captain known for his good behaviour on the field but one wonders if he commanded the sort of reverence Dhoni does from his teammates. Tendulkar is arguably the most loved cricketer in the history of the sport but he was never comfortable in the role of captain. Dhoni, on the other hand, is a leadership all-rounder, popular with fans and teammates alike. His brand of leadership, while benign, can thrive even under pressure, earning him the moniker “Captain Cool”, something that both Tendulkar and Kohli lack, if differently.
 
It is easy in India for successful cricketers to be treated as demigods but in Dhoni’s case this status is generally acknowledged to be well-deserved. Sushant Singh Rajput, a bonafide superstar, played him in the 2016 biopic, MS Dhoni: The Untold Story, a film that not only did well at the box office but it also became the highest-grossing Hindi film to be released in Chennai, a city that considers Dhoni one of its own.
 
That film achieved the seemingly impossible task of increasing his stock further, portraying him as a man of boundless talent whose professional success was punctuated by personal tragedies (Dhoni lost his first girlfriend to an accident). Rajput, a consummate actor, played him with quiet reserve. While he was exact in replicating Dhoni’s gestures on the field, it was his melancholy wisdom in the off-field scenes that brought the acknowledged spirit of the cricketer to life.
 
It is telling that Tendulkar was also immortalised on screen but in a documentary. Sachin: A Billion Dreams, released earlier this year, captured the triumphs of India’s master blaster, but failed to generate the sort of buzz that MS Dhoni did. Until Dhoni came around, Tendulkar was our supreme sporting hero, much-loved and admired. But his story lacked the chutzpah of Dhoni’s rags-to-riches tale, one buoyed by the fact that the transformation had failed, even slightly, to go to his head.
 
All of this means that our reaction to Dhoni goes beyond rationale, tipping into the sort of admiration that is the essence of true celebrity. It’s like we know him well and instinctively recognise what he will and will not do, a faith that played some part in our collective agreement to give him the benefit of the doubt in the IPL saga even before the facts of the case were out.
 
Cricket in India is a massively changed beast today, and it is not uncommon for us to nonchalantly accept decisions that would have made an earlier generation balk. Yet, Dhoni’s poise brings a measure of continuity between old and new fans. When Kohli had a tiff with Anil Kumble, forcing the latter to bow out gracefully, we collectively whispered that Dhoni would never have let this happen.
 
Besides, Dhoni offers lessons beyond cricket. He keeps a check on his — and our — wilder sides. We know, for example, that he would never take his shirt off and whirl it around in triumph the way Saurav Ganguly did at Lord’s all those year ago. We, of course, celebrated with Ganguly but such a spontaneous gesture would be unthinkable from Dhoni, too dignified, too gentlemanly to be in-your-face about anything.
 
At a time when masculinity is said to be in crisis, he presents us men a pleasing template by which to live. It’s not that he lacks aggression — if anything, his eyes convey a focus that, if this were not sport, would be deemed intrusive — but it is his ability to never let it tip over into confrontation that we find impressive. How he does it, match after high-stakes match, remains a mystery.

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