It's cricket, not bonded labour: Let's respect MS Dhoni's choice to retire

By Rajesh Tiwary Lala Amarnath was independent India’s first Test captain. As a trivia enthusiast, he is a name I recall and talk about often. As a lover of Indian cricket, he is a hero to me. Navjot Singh Sidhu hit eight sixes while scoring a test hundred at KD Singh Babu stadium (I don’t blame you if the name doesn’t ring a bell) in my hometown of Lucknow and I mimicked the way he charged Muttiah Muralitharan and co. about 800 times in my backyard. He was the highest scorer in what stays in my memory as the most emotional game of cricket I have ever seen - the 1996 World Cup quarter final vs Pakistan. [caption id=“attachment_2026823” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  MS Dhoni walks off the field on the fifth day at the MCG. Getty Sports Images[/caption] Needless to say, he is a hero to me. Amarnath and Sidhu both left Test tours in the middle (in the case of Amarnath, he was sent back from a tour). Stuff happens. Both continued to play Test cricket even after those unpleasant incidents. Nobody branded them traitors, like Tom Alter has branded Dhoni. Alter isn’t my hero, but I have fond memories of him; of watching him anchor sports magazine shows on Doordarshan, of reading and learning the nuances of cricket from his articles and of a thespian who effortlessly pulled off hundreds of roles on screen. His rant against Dhoni’s decision to leave a tour midway is not something I will choose to recall him by. Every man has a right to choose when he wants to hang up his boots. This is sports at the end of day, no bonded labour. Dhoni resigned when he knew he couldn’t, or didn’t want to, play Tests any more. To quit at such a point is not just pragmatic, it’s also honourable. He isn’t the first one to do this either. His predecessor handed him the reigns of a side mid-series. Anil Kumble also missed a game earlier in that series and he knew he had an able captain ready to replace him in Dhoni. Thankfully, no one questioned Kumble’s commitment when he quit Test cricket in the middle of a series but continued to play in the IPL. Most of us who watched Kohli at Adelaide agreed that he is ready to lead this India side. With the series gone, there is more merit in letting Kohli grow into the job he will hopefully be doing for many years to come. Dhoni is a pragmatic leader who thinks on his feet and takes quick decisions. He may even have decided to resign in the final session of play at MCG. Who knows? Maybe one day Dhoni will tell us but If someone can promote himself to No. 4 despite a poor run of form and a World cup in the balance; if someone can give a battered and bruised Ishant Sharma the ball with a Champions Trophy on the line; if someone can refuse to take a single in the final over of a match only to lose it and later say he would do it again, then you definitely expect that someone to quit based on his gut instinct. Dhoni’s instincts and spontaneity have given us much glory. We should respect those traits even when they tell him to walk away. Rajesh Tiwary tweets as @cricBC, which is a shared/account he manages with a friend.