India has made a different identity in the history of cricket. From the era of BS Chandrashekhar to Sunil Gavaskar, Indian cricket went through a rough time. The popularity of cricket began to peak around the decade of the 90s. A player like Erapali Prasanna was also a part of the period when India went through a difficult phase. Cricket caught India’s attention after the 1983 World Cup and cricket became associated with people every day. An attachment to watching cricket and connecting with it changed the thinking of people.
There have been many captains in Indian cricket but hardly anyone has achieved popularity like Dhoni. The question is if Dhoni had not been the captain, would he have been as successful. Maybe more than that. Dhoni, who made his debut for India in 2004, didn’t get much better ovations in the early stages. But with his maiden century against Pakistan in Vizag, Dhoni gave a message, this is just the beginning, the real picture is yet to begin.
From 2005 to the 2007 T20 World Cup, Dhoni’s batting was much talked about. To bat in a different style and especially to bat at an aggressive pace, Dhoni has started a trend in India.
But with the change, a lot more changed in Indian cricket. In a country like India where cricket is considered a religion. The cricket before Dhoni’s era used to be decently run. It had a different mindset to organize cricket in the right way, in which Jagmohan Dalmiya’s contribution was huge.
But change is the law of the time, yet if it is done in the right way, it can be very good. India’s journey to the final in 2003 was followed by tours of England and Australia and Pakistan.
Earlier, everyone had seen Virender Sehwag’s aggressive batting, Sehwag took cricket to a different level from his definition of batting. Before Dhoni, Yuvraj Singh’s batting used to be discussed a lot, the left-handed Yuvraj Singh’s innings in the 2002 Lord’s final is still remembered by the people.
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India emerged as a strong country in cricket. Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar, Anil Kumble, Virender Sehwag, Mohammad Kaif, and Yuvraj Singh were probably the first time that India’s batting had been so refined. The reason was Sourav Ganguly, whose captaincy gave a new direction to India, Ganguly, who took over the captaincy at the end of 90, turned the team’s rejuvenation. Bringing together a shattered team and standing on the map of the world, Ganguly was a captain of a different level and thinking. Under Ganguly’s captaincy, many young faces of the team went on to become big players.
But after 2007, when Dhoni took over the captaincy, a lot changed in which a different concept of cricket diplomacy was invented. There was a change in Dhoni’s batting and his approach changed completely, putting himself behind and giving opportunities to others. How can a captain keep himself behind and players ahead when conditions are tough? Somewhere behind this change, Bollywood was also involved. Cricket and Bollywood have the worst mix. What does entertainment mean to the world of sports?
The motive behind this thinking of the captain was to give a chance to the new player which was probably wrong. You had a team that had a lot of experienced players whose careers suddenly went downhill. Perhaps Ganguly had the same diplomacy in his time, due to which many players could not play for India. But that could have been stopped if Yuvraj Singh or Anil Kumble or Rahul Dravid, the player of Ganguly’s time, had been made the captain. But when Dhoni became the captain and when everyone understood his diplomacy, Dhoni had done his job.
Dhoni, who had divided cricket, had made a name for himself. Perhaps even the old cricket legends do not deny that Dhoni was a selfish captain who sidelined the great players of the team due to young players. Perhaps if Yuvraj Singh or Anil Kumble or Rahul had been the captain, cricket would have been on a different level today. Of course, Dhoni will have trophies but his career ended at a stalemate. Divide and rule the politics of playing cricket has changed cricket in today’s era. Behind this is the contribution of a captain like Dhoni.
