A small town boy from a middle class family of Ranchi rose to become the face of the nation, cricketing world and countless brands alike. He was unfortunate to be run out on debut. His arrival was marked by 183* against Sri Lanka. Probably a year later he was sent to South Africa captaining an inexperienced and young Indian squad as Sachin and Rahul Dravid pulled out, to do what for others would have been an utter surprise, a herculean task. Just as we saw (now defamed) S.Shreesanth gulping down the the reverse scoop from Misbah in the third man region, he became the toast of the nation, winning the inaugural World cup T20. Country was frenzied in a diwali like celebration. It was Mahi's, as he is commonly referred to, first taste of success at the highest level. There were more to come, many more. His rise to the top was phenomenal and I thank his school coach who asked him to shift from goalkeeper to wicketkeeper. Who can forget the muscular heave for a six off Nuwan Kulasekara in World cup final that set the nation ablaze, literally.The quick wickets of Sachin and Sehwag forced the cricket worshipping nation to stare at their TV sets with gloom. In came the Ice Man dhoni, the no.7 , with Gautam Gambhir made a solid platform and then took India home as Man of Tournament Yuvraj saw with awe from the other end. But even when everyone from Sachin to Yuvraj to Harbhajan were busy shedding tears of joy rejoicing the victory, shouting, his emotions were in check. Such is his simplicity and ground-to-earth attitude that he gently plucked out one of the stumps as a memento and smiled contentedly as if it was just another day at work for him.The Champions Trophy heist would still be afresh in everybody's memory. He backs his instinct when others panic and has the ability to bring out the best in someone by trusting them. The choice to give Ishant one more over even when he had gone for a plenty got him two wickets and probably the match and Sir Jadeja's recent form had been testimony to it and examples to swear by. The success story has not been as easy as it seems and was marred by many unpleasant happenings, the recent conflict of interests,the whitewashed series loss to England and Australia, trouble with seniors, a patchy form drawing criticism from all corners,face offs with Sehwag to name a few. But as a leader is expected to,he rose through them all toughened and unscathed, choosing to focus on the events on-field rather than off-field. Captaining India across all the three formats, the finishing skills of this wicketkeeper batsman are unparalleled. His temperament is something to be jealous of, his ability to take challenges head-on and handling pressure, being cool as cucumber in crunch situations, believing in himself and his fellow team mates and not experimenting too much adds to his wonderful leadership skills that forced even cricketing stalwart Sachin to shower praise on him saying, "Dhoni is the best captain I had played under". He is neither flamboyant nor outspoken,known for his passion for bikes(hellcat being the recent addition to his garage and he already owns a bike racing team) and is married to his childhood love Sakshi Dhoni. What impresses me further is the way he made CSK the best and most consistent IPL team over the years with two trophies and reaching quarterfinal everytime and in the process carving out talented personas namely Murali Vijay, Raina, Ashwin, Jadeja and Mohit Sharma. People may call him just lucky but for me he is the Best Leader, Style Icon and a Genius Personality. I hope I could catch up with him someday & tell him, "Hey, you are my star".
