Uncertainties in cricket make it a great leveller, says Dhoni the motivator
MUMBAI: There aren’t many cricketers who are as calm as Mahendra Singh Dhoni. Whether it is a nail-biting situation, tension running high, the team standing on the cusp of winning or losing, Dhoni hardly lets his emotion get the better of him. The only Indian captain to have won all the three ICC tournaments, he’s faced many such situations. In a video uploaded by Eternal Explorer on YouTube, India’s most successful Test captain says it’s the uncertainty that makes the game a great leveller.
“The game of cricket teaches me a very important lesson. I feel cricket is a great leveller. If you’re not humble, it teaches you how to be. It starts with the flip of a coin; you don’t know whether it would be heads or tails,” Dhoni says in that three-minute video. “You’ll often find that when you’re going through a rough patch, the best bowler from the opposition will be bowling to you and the weakest fielder taking a one-handed catch. These are things that only happen in cricket.”
NEARING LANDMARK
Dhoni played 90 Tests before quitting the longest format of the game, during the 2014-15 tour of Australia. He is now just four short of earning 300 ODI caps. He hogged the limelight with his fearless batting style and ability to finish chases by scoring big coming down the order. A wicketkeeper-batsman, Dhoni is still India’s best bet to finishing matches.
“When I started playing, I never thought I would play for India one day. So, I never played keeping that in mind. When we played cricket during our school days, our only motive was to win a game even against the best of teams,” Dhoni said. “It’s going to get a bit difficult if you’re going to decide your future through milestones. It’s not about them. What it is about is how much you can contribute, how good you are and then take it forward.”