The kid who sits next to you at that match will have been waiting for a tenth of his life. He’ll find out that his hero isn’t playing and he’ll cry.

“Players know their body best and in future more and more players would come out and say that they are going to skip events.”

That’s the Indian captain saying that, people. He’s just about the most important figure in cricket. Don’t tell us it’s Lalit Modi from the IPL - he’s not in cricket, because he’s not a cricketer. He’s merely a businessman and is therefore just someone who wants a slap - like all businessmen who’ve ever lived.

There are three points of view about Dhoni’s comment:

(1) Children should be disappointed by their heroes and made to cry, because that’s what life’s about: disappointment and crying, perhaps with a dose of pessimism - which the experience should also teach them.

(2) International cricket is clearly full of players operating at 80% to try and conserve their energy for future matches. Surely that’s what county cricket is for.

(3) Maybe it would be nice if people could arrange things so that we could see the best cricketers playing at their best.

We also have a question. Is Dhoni resigned to this and stating facts, like the pragmatist he is, or is he stirring?

Tags: India, Mahendra Dhoni by King Cricket
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Anil Kumble hit one Test hundred. Mahendra Singh Dhoni has also hit one. It was 148 against Pakistan.

Dhoni should really address that. He’s had a good series with the bat, hitting four fifties, but a hundred or two wouldn’t go amiss.

When Mahendra Dhoni first appeared and started slogging the ball around, we didn’t think much of him. Brilliant, another one-day batting star - cricket’s not short of those.

But then, over time, he revealed himself to be an adept batsman, a keen competitor and above all a man who doesn’t flounce about overreacting about everything; bursting into tears or losing his temper at the drop of a hat/catch.

On the contrary, he seems a fantastically straightforward sort of guy. If he thinks something needs doing, he’ll tell someone to do it, whoever they are. Or maybe he’ll do it himself. Whichever it is, you don’t question him, because he’s so reasonable and pragmatic, you just know he’s acting for the right reasons. He always seems to play the match situation. That single hundred speaks of necessary quick fifties more than it speaks of missed opportunities.

So how did Mahendra Dhoni affect this transformation from across-the-line wild child to respected, admired captain and role model?

He cut his hair. Where once his locks roamed around wildly, as if he were some sort of cricketing medusa, now he has a good, solid, sensible haircut.

It’s the kind of haircut you’d take financial advice off. It’s the kind of haircut that consults the instructions and takes its time making sure it does the job properly. It’s the kind of haircut that’s heard about brewing tea in a mug rather than a pre-warmed pot, but thought, ‘why risk it?’

Tags: India, Mahendra Dhoni by King Cricket
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No Dravid, no Ganguly - no problem. Other players are making the step up and showing the maturity that should go hand-in-hand with seniority, but so often doesn’t.

We were unsure when Mahendra Dhoni was made the captain of India’s one-day team. The extravagant crowd favourite rarely makes the best captain - or maybe it’s just that Ian Botham gave us that opinion.

Dhoni’s character’s at odds with his batting persona however. For a man who can throw the bat as if he doesn’t have a care in the world, he’s a serious, professional captain who demands concentration from his players.

He impressed during India’s Twenty20 World Cup triumph, staying unbelievably calm when the pressure mounted and having the confidence to make unexpected bowling changes with everything on the line.

In this tri-nations series, he’s impressed again. In today’s final he demanded high standards from a fielding side who are often lackadaisical, expressing his displeasure clearly but calmly when he felt someone’s concentration had wavered. But more than that, he seems pragmatic.

Maybe it’s dealing with the ludicrous expectations about his own performances that that’s made him a realist, but he seemed to be one of the few people involved in this irritating Australia-India brouhaha who didn’t see things in black and white. His comments seemed to acknowledge and embrace the greyness that so few others seemed able to find

“If you’re getting provoked then there are ways in which you can reply, so you have to be careful about it. We have youngsters in the side who will learn all these arts.”

No right and wrong there. Just a recognition that it takes two to tango and that you can only control one half of that dance.

Tags: Australia, India, Mahendra Dhoni by King Cricket
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