A paean for MSD

 

In the twilight of his sterling career, IPL 2020 may potentially become Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s swansong of triumph. Let us keep our fingers crossed. The special ability that MSD possesses is to create magical moments in otherwise hopeless situations. His depth, originality and improvisation skills are unparalleled in world cricket past or present.

Although it is wonderful to watch the superlative performances of such exceptionally gifted players like say Bumrah or Rabada, the experience of watching someone like Deepak Chahar obtaining similar results under constant tutelage by MSD is unique! Seemingly mediocre players perform superhuman acts under his leadership. The list is endless – the likes of Joginder Sharma, Albie Morkel, Deepak Chahar, Shardul Thakur…. Why? Perhaps because he can inspire confidence and also impart priceless tips! The end result becomes a pleasure to watch.

He orchestrates a symphony in cricketing terms by tweaking the inputs in his Schrödinger like equation of the state of play to manipulate the output favourably! Other teams and players put in a lot of thought and effort in the game to achieve what MSD seems to do so effortlessly. Once he retires, CSK will become like other teams, susceptible to the simple laws of Newtonian physics. But until then, his presence is Einstein like – causing time to bend around heavenly bodies in the space-time continuum!

There are so many aspects to his multidimensional personality like – electric stumping, acrobatic catching, serendipitous run outs, breath taking big hitting, uncanny knack of getting the DRS decision right more often than not and so on…. Other cricketing greats tend to live and breathe the game 24/7/365 whereas MSD can leave it behind once he leaves the field. He has other interests also which he is passionate about, such as automobiles, weapons (being in the army) to name a few.

In the end, it is a joy to watch him answer the interview questions posed to him, with his trademark flair, simplicity and piercing insights. He is one of a kind and hence it is a privilege to watch him perform. So until the show lasts, for me he will remain the emperor of understatement!