Profiles / Andrew Hughes / 11 November 2008 / Leave a comment

Last week MS Dhoni took on the Indian Test captaincy to go with the Twenty20 and ODI captaincy. But where did Dhoni come from, just why is he so popular and will the pressure be too much for him, asks Andrew Hughes.

In April 2005, Mahendra Singh Dhoni announced himself to the world by flaying 148 blistering runs against Pakistan in Visakhapatnam. This long-haired, motorbike-riding swashbuckler had instant and obvious Bollywood appeal. But those who mistook him for a playboy; a flash in the pan, were wrong. He has proven to be no pinch-hitting hustler, but a man of substance, a gem from the depths of the mining regions of Jharkhand, his assured manner as polished as the beaming smile he turns on journalists who try to trip him up. Last week he became India's latest Test captain.

Second only to Sachin Tendulkar in popularity, it isn't hard to see how a quiet boy from Midnapore has risen so far in the affections of Indian cricket lovers. From the start, his batting has evoked the original spirit of Indian cricket. His homemade technique, his ferocious two-handed forehands, daredevil lofts over cover and scissor-legged heaves through midwicket have recalled the founding fathers of Indian batting, men like C K Nayadu, Wazir Ali and Lala Amarnath, who played with free abandon, providing spectators with a feast of strokeplay.

Coming from the smoky, sooty and resolutely unfashionable backwater of Jharkhand, he brings no baggage, has not been raised up by family ties or regional bias and arises no suspicions of nepotism or favouritism. Not a teenage prodigy, it was not so long ago that he was just another unknown youngster playing khep khela (tennis ball cricket) and sharing a one room tenement. He has reached the top purely on merit.

And he has done so without making enemies. This is mainly down to his manner. In a sport increasingly populated by prima donnas, sledgers and whingers, he exhibits the unruffled assurance of a man comfortable in his own skin. He was never part of any clique, never at the heart of a scandal or row and he has carried that attitude into his captaincy, an inclusive leader in a cricket nation that has tended too often towards the factional. To see his players going about their work with smiles on their faces at Mohali was testament to his leadership style.

Those who know the game have also admired his determination to improve. From his early days as a batting buccaneer with a Lara style backlift, he has added new dimensions to his technique. This is most evident in his limited overs batting. No longer just a free-scoring finisher, he is the rudder of the side. His pivotal position at number five enables him, if required, to steady a rocking ship; to improvise a rescue out of the wreckage of early losses.

The same determination to improve has also enabled him to smooth off the rough edges of his wicket-keeping. His earlier tendency to parry the ball rather than wait for it, a legacy perhaps of his time as a football goalie, is far less evident. Whilst he would not be regarded as the best keeper in world cricket, he has through perseverance and endless practice, made himself into a competent glove man, much as Alec Stewart did.

And now, just like Stewart, he has taken on the toughest job in cricket. Of the handful of cricketers who have tried to be captain, batsman and wicketkeeper, none have succeeded. From the brilliant South African wicket-keeper Percy Sherwell at the beginning of the last century to Adam Gilchrist a hundred years on, all found that something had to give and that something was usually their batting average. Already this summer, Dhoni has missed Test matches in Sri Lanka, in order to rest. As strong and level-headed as he undoubtedly is, he is taking on a monumental burden to lead his country in all three formats of the game.

Burnout is a danger that England's new skipper, Kevin Pietersen has also been concerned about. His style of captaincy is little more volatile and adrenalin fuelled than Dhoni's and the forthcoming one day series between India and England offers us a fascinating contrast of leadership styles. The two sides are pretty closely matched in the fifty over game but England have to overcome not only the lingering bad vibes of their Caribbean experience but also a punishing travel schedule. That is the only reason why they are as high as [2.84] with India at [1.53] to win the seven match series.