Indian cricket - the redefining.

The haunting ghost called loss:

The pain of consecutive losses by Indian cricket in the past used to haunt on me like anything. I avoided seeing many matches. It was not my expectation of the team to deliver and be victorious in each and every match they play, but the feeling of oneness and patriotism And added to all that was match fixing by some which tainted the image of the game. India had many legendary players even at that time.

I, for some time had literally stopped watching this game.

The relief:
Some relief though came in the form of some youngsters who had athletic capabilities apart from being good cricketers.

Yuvraj Singh

Mohammad Kaif

Virender Sehwag

Some of them are still hanging on to the team with consistent performance.

Then came the man who is known for probably his most successful captaincy. Saurav Ganguly or Bengal Tiger or Dada as he was known, was also in controversy for several reasons like alleged absense from practice sessions, alleged irregularity in attandance or alleged attitude problem and what not. But according to me, he is one of the most spectacular player India has ever produced. And we do have a living legend in the form of Sachin Tendulkar. He has been in the helm of affairs for a very long time.

The renaissance:
But the person who has brought change into the game in Indian perspective is this man.......



Yes, Mahendra Singh Dhoni or shortly MS. These are his merits (my viewpoints):

• Tactical- He is the captain with capabilities of forming tactics or carving out clear cut for taciling any kind of situation in the game. And most of them have been executed, and have worked well.
• Consistent- He has been very consistent with his performance. Has never mixed and messed up with captaining and his personal performance.
• Youth development- He is believed to be a person who constantly motivates everyone, espacially the youth. In fact, he is a role model for them. He himself is a youth for that matter.
  
• Minimal controversies- I haven't heard of much controversies about this captain of India. Have anyone?
• Calm and composure- He is "cool as a cucumber(sidhusim)" in any situation- normal or extreme. His unusual calm, usually is calm before the storm.
  
• Out of the box- His thinking is simply out of the box. May it be bringing the last powerplay in the fag end (slog overs) of the game or banking on the power of youth or anything I might have left out.

This calm and composure and the habit of not panicking has dawned upon the entire Indian team. It is the calm and composed mind and self that makes correct decisions and does everythong right. I think this is one of the most important reasons of the winning habits of the team.

This was seen in today's game with Sri Lanka. The calmness was evident , with the team not giving away too many wickets even during demanding situations (just 4 till the end). The storm was the final powerplay during the slog overs and ofcourse the subsequrent victory for India.

Dhoni's performance in any format of the game, be it one-day, test or 20-20 is impeccable.

Is he the "Obama" of Indian cricket or world cricket for that matter? Or is it vice-versa?

Hmm.... Ok.... Let's hope that the juggernaut continues !!