What better day than his birthday for me to recollect what I once wrote about him for a paid gig?

A man who has made a million men like me look up to him with his calm demeanour and cool head (the least I could is admire the trait as following it seems a distant reality even now 😛 )

I wrote this piece about six years back. It was an amateurish attempt at writing.

Happy Birthday Mahi Bhai!! This one’s for you!

No one knew this was coming!

It came as a bolt from the blue. The biggest debacle Indian cricket would have ever had. Maverick Skipper Dhoni shook the entire cricketing world with his decision to quit the longer format of the game.

One name which often made it to the headlines, has once again contributed significantly with an absolute shocker that has received both accolades and criticism. 

Was it only the “strain” factor that led the Indian Captain to sign off his duties or was it already “cemented” by someone? Still remains to be a nightmare. 

Though the decision took everyone by surprise, cricketing legends Sourav, Rahul and Sachin were in favor of the same. A few sources close to the dressing room claims that the decision would have been due to the proximity factor with the commentator turned director of the Indian Cricket Team.

Speculations behind this decision are really high and one may never get to know what the real story behind his retirement was. 

“To hell with the score line”, added fuel to these speculations. MS has always had an eye over the scoreboard. This clearly stated the mismatch in the mindset of two iconic sportspersons of Indian Cricket. 

Despite the mismatch being evident through his words, the director has claimed that no one knows the amount of respect he has for the Indian Captain. 

MS was highly criticized for his defensive field set and he proved his critics wrong by the dismissal of Steve Smith who was caught at leg slip by Jinx. 

With such strong tactics/skills in his bag, his journey with the team was never under scrutiny, except for the overseas performance. 

Driving Team India to a face-saving draw at Melbourne, calm-headed Dhoni decided to put a full stop to his test career which spanned for 9 years. Unlike the legends who were “pushed” off the squad without performing, Dhoni chose to bid farewell with all due respect to the game that he loved playing.

As rightly defended by Sunil, Dhoni would have known that “vibrant” Virat is ready to take over the baton from him and hence the decision. 

Sanjay Patel, the secretary of BCCI, was seen quoting this to be a “lion-hearted” decision. Of course, a lion hearted lad would call such decisions with ease. But MS had gone through a rough patch before this decision came off.

Indian cricketing fans have started paying tribute to MS by raising their bats in air for the batsoff campaign. 

Bats-off MS. You will be missed in whites.

Feels like yesterday 🙂 Good to see him still donning the yellow jersey once a year. No matter what, the legacy will remain etched in our hearts forever!