The clock tick-tocks relentlessly and stops for none. Even your superheroes would one day walk into the sunset of their careers. MS Dhoni has certainly been a superhero for many. But as he celebrates his 42nd birthday, it is fair to say he is at the fag end of his illustrious career. So, it is perhaps time to recollect a trail of early memories from when Dhoni was known more as a ticket collector than a trophy winner.
The year was 2002. Newspapers were very much in vogue, and for a cricket aficionado, ‘brief scores’ were still a source of information to keep in touch with some of the domestic matches going on across the country. In November that year, Karnataka were taking on Bihar in a Ranji game in Ranchi, with Dhoni being part of the Bihar side. That Dhoni was representing Bihar and not Jharkhand gives enough clues that the match took place many seasons ago.
From the beginning, the result of the match seemed like a foregone conclusion. After all, Bihar were taking on multiple Ranji winners, Karnataka. For long periods, going by the brief scores, the match panned out according to early predictions. But in Bihar’s second innings, a wicketkeeper-bat from Bihar blazed his way to an 87-ball 93. Yes, it was Dhoni. There are no visuals from that game. All you have is a recollection of a scorecard. If a biography is written on Dhoni, that innings may not even be a footnote. But, a few years later, when Dhoni became an icon of Indian cricket, a certain brief score kept reverberating in the mind.
The quick-fire hundred against Central Zone in January 2004 is well-chronicled in the annals of Indian cricket. Although, once again, there are no visuals from that game. Yes, there are a few stories surrounding that knock, and you would perhaps get an archived photo of Dhoni flicking a delivery around the corner, with Naman Ojha, the wicket-keeper, and Syed Abbas Ali, former Madhya Pradesh batter, keenly keeping an eye on the direction of the ball.
Thankfully, the tri-series involving Kenya, India A and Pakistan A in August 2004 was shown on TV. There are some vague memories of Dhoni playing audacious cuts, flicks and a few shots through extra-cover. The one point that continues to echo in the mind is how after finishing the downswing of the arc, almost every single time the willow seemed to end up around head or shoulder height.
The follow-through of Dhoni’s shot-making in that series was an indicator of his flair and also the power he used to generate. He ended that tournament with 362 runs and two hundreds. In that series, Dhoni also showcased his quick reflexes behind the stumps. The way he whipped out the bails in a flash to dismiss Kenya’s J Ababu capsulises the point.
No wonder that many years later, Misbah-ul-Haq, the opposition captain, narrated an interesting anecdote from the ‘A’ tri-series on a Pakistan channel. “MS Dhoni, the first time he came up against us, he scored a lot of runs. The three matches he played against us, hit six after six, the ball wasn’t even coming back. After a while, Dhoni came into the Indian side. It was a Pakistan tour of India (in 2005) and Bob Woolmer was the coach. Rao Iftikhar Anjum was playing. Rao told Woolmer, ‘this guy is a dangerous batter, keep an eye on him’.
“In the first match, he was out cheaply. The whole team teased and mocked Rao Iftikhar. Woolmer, everyone kept saying, ‘you (guys) allowed him to score hundred after hundred’. In the next match, Dhoni batted at No.3 and scored a hundred (148), and Rao Iftikhar kept saying to every cricketer (in the team), ‘this is how he kept hitting, this is how he kept hitting us.'”
Of course, Misbah was referring to Dhoni’s maiden ODI ton against Pakistan at Visakhapatnam in 2005. With his long hair and daring stroke-play, Dhoni completely mesmerized the Indian fans. That hundred turned out to be the first chapter of his success story. Since then, he has become the Pied Piper of Indian cricket, who has attracted millions of followers with his cricketing prowess. Hopefully, we would see a bit more of Dhoni magic in the IPL before he finally hangs up his boots.