Its been just about 2 months since India silenced the lions and tigers of world cricket with their stupendous victory in securing the highest honor of modern day cricket- The World championship. It is interesting how thanks to the attention span of the audience the true test of a nation's cricketing strength started off with test cricket then 'progressed' to slide down towards a 50 over ODI and now stands at a T20.
But yet this World cup was grand!! Thanks to the media and retail frenzy and most importantly this was the time corporate India trying to woo its employees with ' World Cup friendly' policies. Mega screens for the semis and finals at workplaces, relaxation of the dress code to allow 'Team India' T shirts, paid leaves on match days. Undoubtedly, the best days in my corporate life so far !! And the team didn't disappoint. MSD and his men bled blue and strode past each obstacle outdoing themselves at every juncture. And the cup was finally home!! The media houses were delighted- they had enough to cover for the next one month, match analysis, photographs, interviews with aam junta, interviews with the neighbour of MSD's childhood friend's aunt . The cricketers were obviously tired ..... collecting their keys to their villas, cars, bikes and of course posing for photographs. But yes the Indian junta was still hungry for more.
Just as they were recovering from hoarse throats and fatigue of the sweet victory began the glitz and glamor of the IPL. The corporate czars rubbed shoulders with the larger than life superstars, cheer leaders brought along cheer and lots of curious stares and the cricketers did what they did best - played hard and partied harder. All eyes were on the Chennai Super kings to see if the MSD magic would work again!! And disappointing enough to all those critics and non believers the king and his army marched to victory again!!!
I am not a cricket or psychology expert but yes my years of experience watching cricket and the captains who came and went, some good some forgettable, MSD stands out! There are so many things about him that are refreshing - his ability to control emotion and find his 'inner peace' ( See Kung Fu Panda 2 for more) , his ability to motivate the bunch of above the ordinary youngsters to an extraordinary goal, his ability to keep everyone guessing - Nehra over Ashwin, Sreesanth in the final are decisions he admitted will be forgotten now that they have won and above all- the ability to have inspired the team to follow his path not by force but sheer admiration and devotion is remarkable. The feeling seems fanatical within the team, be it India or CSK these guys seem to do as he says without a question or a doubt. And why not it pays off each and every time. It will be a watch to see how long and if this trend will continue. However when i look back at the hectic cricket season, MSD will remain the architect and visonary of leading two fantastic teams to success and its probably only fair that he is now christened - 'Midas' Singh Dhoni- whatever he touches turns into gold!
