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Players like Mahendra Singh Dhoni who have a combination of panache and raw talent, topped with a cool temperament, come once in a generation. Dhoni has come as the right answer to the perennial question: from where are we going to find the next wicketkeeper-batsmen? Not an ordinary wicketkeeper, mind you, and not a batsman who comes at number six and scores 30 or 40. What we have in Dhoni is a wicketkeeper who can get into any team on the basis of his wicketkeeping alone and as a batsman he is even more impressive. He can bat at number three or at any number subsequently. He can come as a pinch hitter and decimate the bowling or bat lower down the order and bleed the opposition till victory is achieved. He is an asset to the captain. With Dhoni in the team, the captain has a player who he can send in anytime depending on the situation. Dhoni is in the mould of Virender Sehwag. He sees the ball early and uses raw power to belt the ball to the boundary with disdain. The face of Indian cricket has acquired a lusty sparkle since Dhoni announced his arrival on the scene with a spectacular knock of 148 against Pakistan in 2005. Since then India is performing consistently in the ODIs. In the last three one-day series, India have won two (against Sri Lanka and Pakistan) and drawn one (South Africa).
The way he bats and the sheer energy he exudes coupled with his shoulder-length hair has won him many fans not only in his home country but also across the border. Even Gen Pervez Musharraf has been bowled over by his mane and advised him not to cut them after some fans demanded that he keep his hair short. What also endears him to his fans is his rustic charm and modest background. Never before has a player emerged from a cricketing backwater — Jharkhand — and shone so brightly and in such a short time. A small town boy making it big has whetted the dreams of millions of aspiring cricketers across the hinterland. |
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He has another quality
— he is not afraid of any bowler and the way he shredded the
Pakistan pace attack in the Test series was a treat to watch. His
eyeball-to-eyeball confrontation with Shoaib Akhtar will be talked for
many years to come.