Dhoni’s calm shade of grey - and he loves to wear it

Just before the start of the World Cup, India were having a short training camp in Bangalore and one of the days was set aside for the team’s interaction with the media. It was a pretty hectic day – questions were being thrown at Mahendra Singh Dhoni, some tough, others pretty boring. But through it all, he rarely ever broke a sweat. In fact, he even found time to sit among the media and ask Virender Sehwag a few ‘tough’ questions. That elicited a few laughs from the journalists who had gathered there, but mostly they were all in awe. As he exited the room, he was chased by autograph hunters. Not for a moment did he pause, he continued walking towards the elevator at a steady pace, signing as many autographs as he could. Then, as he waited for the elevator, more questions were thrown at him. A few sounded like statements though, “It must be great being captain of India, you get so much fame and money.” [caption id=“attachment_44991” align=“alignleft” width=“380” caption=“India’s Captain MS Dhoni at a press conference at Lord’s Cricket Ground in London, on Wednesday. AFP”] [/caption] At this, Dhoni paused. He looked at the man and with a big grin said, “You forgot about the grey hair.” And we thought that would have escaped his notice. But he’s almost like the Phantom in that respect: he has eyes at the back of his head. He doesn’t forget anything. Not the hours spent in hotels; not the critics; not the wins and certainly, not the losses. They say captaining India is one of the most stressful jobs in the world. And even though Dhoni doesn’t show it, one look at the rapidly greying hair and you know he feels every little thing that happens on the pitch. He probably agonises over some of the decisions (like the draw in West Indies for example), but he hardly ever shows it. What would Sourav Ganguly have done if Kumar Sangakkara had pulled the controversial toss stunt on him before the World cup final? Well, for starters he would have thrown a tantrum. Then, the news would have filtered through to the Bengali media and they too would have thrown a tantrum. Then finally, the news would filter down to the crowd and they would have thrown a few bottles on the ground. And that would be that. Dhoni, in contrast, calmly asked for a re-toss and when he had the chance to bat, produced an innings so special that no captain will ever try tricking the Indian skipper again. A tantrum wouldn’t be his style. He isn’t an impulsive man – he likes to plan things out and loves nothing more than to see the turn of events follow that path. “He (Dhoni) leads from the front, is a very dangerous cricketer and is possibly the most charismatic player India have ever had, with the sway he holds in that country now,” Swann was quoted, as saying by The Daily Express. “If we can get at anyone, he is probably the key man.” England have, on their part, launched a verbal attack on India. It began with DRS, but even now, just a day before the Lord’s Test, the mental battle is on in full swing. In Ganguly’s era, a war of words would have ensued, Rahul Dravid would have grimaced and shrugged it off, Anil Kumble would have been philosophical about it – Dhoni has just maintained an almost stoic silence. It’s almost like you know him, but you don’t. And that’s the quality that puts the opposition, in this case England, at unease. You never quite know what he’s thinking. If there was one cricketer who could survive in Indian politics today, it would probably be Dhoni and even that would boil down to his calm. Unruffled and unbeaten in his stint as captain, Dhoni’s calm has become an aspect of his persona that his teammates respect and his opponents have learned to fear. Silence, at least, in the Indian skipper case hardly every goes un-noticed.