I have been interested in that phrase called 'Captain Cool' coined for Mahendra Singh Dhoni. He is definitely an icon like no other, sharing space with Tendulkar yet so commanding in his presence that he stands taller. However the recent spate of criticism of Captain Cool has led me to think of why are we as Fans and public not so cool.
The captain was 'cool' when his attitude to risk taking paid off and won us matches , series and tournaments.. He is the one who brought stability to the captaincy of the team and to the team.. do we remember how we had the best individual players and managed to lose so many series and matches when we were poised for victory. He and Saurabh Ganguly are to be credited to make us believe that we can do it as a team. They stand out.. they took some risks and they excelled. Risks by nature will not work out all the time. Ganguly took risks and didnt work out. This series the risks of Dhoni did not seem to work.
Isnt it all part of the plan.. you keep taking risks.. and you keep learnign to take better risks.. and take risks better...but if the personality of the captain is about taking risks .. he will and he should continue to..cause that is what works for him. You stop him from taking risks and we lose one of the best players across the various fromats of the game from the infant T20 to the over aged Tests. A player who probably comes second in consistence to Rahul Dravid in the last half decade. A record of consistency better than even Tendulkars at number 7 down !
for me clearly the captain is cool.. he has give us the team of tomorrow... ajinkya rahane.. murali vijay...suresh raina.... virat kohli....Rohit Sharma....r ashwin ... Ravindra Jadeja...R P Singh..Sreesanth.. and more importantly he has made them play together as one unit.. which was difficult even when the greatest of individual players ramped up the Indian team together in a group of 11.
To me the captain has a more long term focus than most critics and analysts of the game can have.. he has made us think.. what beyond the world cups and the best coaches and the best individuals players... ask yourself .. Do you think Team India can be a world winning side without Tendulkar / Dravid and Srinath and who takes the credit for enabling that..
Take it from me.. The Captain is Cool.
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