The ruthlessly efficient Australian team shattered the dreams Dhoni had of winning the 2015 World Cup. With that, 1.3 billion Indian cricket fans went into a prolonged mourning period. It has been a deeply disappointing time for everyone associated with Indian cricket, from the cricketers and coaches to journalists and fans.
At IndiaBet.org, we are yet to get over India’s terrible loss in the semi-finals, after having promised so much in the earlier stages of the tournament. It was the manner of India’s defeat that rankled. Clearly, India had no chance whatsoever against an Australian side, which was better talented, better motivated and determined to win, at all cost.
So, what does this mean for India’s most successful captain, Mahendra Singh Dhoni? Does he fight on, or does he ride into the sunset, on one of his designer bikes? Dhoni was combative as usual in his press conference with the media following the World Cup defeat.
He defended his coach Duncan Fletcher, despite the fact that nobody else has a good word to say about him. Dhoni said, “Duncan’s technical knowledge of the game is excellent. I really enjoy his company. He took over at a time when senior players had left and he had to groom the juniors. It was a tough job.”
Well, clearly Dhoni is a loyal guy. He never lets his friends down, even when they are a subject of national ridicule as Fletcher is.
When asked about his future, and whether it was time to quit, Dhoni was gave it back to the media in a way only he can: “I think you all should do research and whatever you write, the opposite will be the truth. I am not that old, so do your research first.”
He was philosophical about losing the title and graciously praised his opponents, the Australians: “Well, it’s something that doesn’t really belong to anyone. We definitely took it from someone, so somebody took it from us. It’s as simple as that. They (Australia) played very good cricket, over 300 is always a difficult score. They bowled really well.”
He talked about how success in life or cricket was never guaranteed, but how you learned from your mistakes was what mattered. Referring to the criticism star batsman Virat Kohli has received after scoring just 1 run in the semi-final, Dhoni said, “Kohli played a shot and it didn’t pay off. It happens, and it happens to a lot of batsmen.
“You will see in the coming years that we will continue with the same line-up. They will have learnt a lot on the tour and those learnings will come in handy when we travel outside the sub-continent to play Test matches.”
He insisted that the team was happy with him and with each other, despite the tour of Australia, which was perhaps the toughest one the national cricket team has ever been through: “The tour was a tough one for us. Tests didn’t go our way, ODIs didn’t go our way. It was important to have a good dressing room atmosphere. If you have that it is slightly easy to come back into form.”
So what does future hold for Dhoni? Let’s hear from the man himself: “What people think about me as a player or what I have done, it doesn’t really matter because I play to enjoy the game. The day I pack my bags I pack it, and I’ll be happy on my bike.”
Whatever happens from now one, one thing is clear. Dhoni is a man who lives by his own terms. And if he has to quit the stage at the highest level, he will do so on his own terms as well.
