MS Dhoni’s retirement is largely his acceptance of failure

We should have seen it coming. The man had spelled it out clearly at a press conference at Perth in January 2012: “If I want to see the 2015 World Cup, I’ll have to retire from one of the formats,” MS Dhoni had said on the eve of a game India went on to lose by an innings, one of the infamous 0-8 overseas losses. But we didn’t. When he picked up a stump after the Boxing Day test, we assumed it would be an unusual addition to his collection of stumps that have seen better results, wider smiles. This stump would mark the end of his fairly average test career, despite what the emotional op-eds are saying in today’s papers. Read it as you may, or wait for his autobiography, but knowing of Dhoni’s ways, his retirement ‘with immediate effect’ is largely his acceptance of failure. By leaving no time for ceremonial farewells or elaborate goodbye tours by teams of friendly cricket boards, all MS seems to be saying is, ‘I screwed up, but the team must move on.’ And hasn’t Dhoni’s ‘it may not be correct, but it just feels right at this time’ way of doing things, defined his captaincy? [caption id=“attachment_2025997” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  File photo of MS Dhoni. Getty Images[/caption] The elaborate farewell might have felt a tad odd after all, after MS having captained one of the weakest batting and bowling departments of recent times when it came to overseas tests. In the tour to West Indies following the World Cup 2011 win, MS made a tame declaration to draw the final test and win the series, a moment that would go on to become a sore mid-point of his test career, the second half marked by a string of losses. It wasn’t only the ineffective, unfit pacers who contributed to India’s abysmal shows in foreign conditions, the batsmen were as aimless, and Dhoni knows he was one of them. His average as captain in overseas tests (31.22), more so in the fourth innings (21.60) exposed his limited skill sets as a long-form batsman, where his ‘innovative’ shots just looked plain awkward. The misery piled on in this second half, like a poorly directed Bollywood film. Dhoni’s jaded mind got further muddled with off-field controversies surrounding CSK and Rhiti Sports, his beard and hair turning more salt than pepper with each passing day. The flamboyant bloke, who once bludgeoned Shoaib Akhtar, turned watchful and boring against bowlers half as fearsome. We must not be foolhardy in the nostalgia of India becoming the number one Test team under Dhoni – the stint wasn’t too long and besides, the ranking meant zilch when a continent away, Steyn and Morkel believed they could demolish India’s batting in a single session at home. We must not be ungrateful to the man either, for he handled and saw off the legendary old guard with a seamless mix of selection tactics and respect. While adding stumps to his collection, he slowly transformed a once-ageing, under-performing team into a young, fighting unit – an invisible chemical reaction that even the mighty Australians couldn’t get right when their greats departed. Lest we forget, on the last day of Ganguly’s final test in Nagpur 2008, Dhoni asked him to take over as captain in the midst of a session, a farewell gesture no ceremony could match. Lest we forget, when was the last time Dhoni took credit for a win and blamed the team for a loss? MS has rightly jettisoned the weakest aspect of his game to sail through in the other two. Technically, he is only making space for a wicket-keeper, which, if the management plays correctly, can allow an extra bowler or batsman in future overseas tests. We won’t miss him, for MS will be around in colours, mouthing ‘Tu bindaas daal!’ or similar words of support to his boys from his vantage point. As for this perfectly timed declaration of his career, as corny as it may sound, there isn’t a better song lyric for it, than this one by Green Day: ‘It’s something unpredictable, but in the end it’s right. I hope you had the time of your life.’