Thank you, MSD

From one MSD to another: Hello Mahendra Singh Dhoni, this is Mister Shailesh Dhaundiyal (MSD) here.

For long, I have marvelled at your equanimity and your poise amidst all your enviable achievements. And, I am sure I am only one among billions of others who must be thinking likewise. As you announced your retirement, I just wanted to take some time to pay my tribute and acknowledgements to you by just recollecting all the memories I have of you, that I will treasure forever.

There have been countless times when I have wondered how tough it must be to be you, with all the adulation and brickbats coming in non-stop. To remain calm and grounded in the midst of such frenzied (both - positive and negative) reactions in a country like India is, in itself, a superhuman thing. But let's begin from the very beginning. 

1) Even the impossible is possible

You rose from humble beginnings from a non-cricketing state and never lost sight of your dream. Not even when you were trying to stay afloat in your cricketing career while checking tickets as a ticket collector in the Railways. This is already enough testament to inspire anyone to never quit believing in oneself.

If Narendra Modi has famously inspired Indians that even a 'chaiwala' can rise to the highest political office and become a Prime Minister, you have done likewise for sport in general (and cricket, in particular). You showed that talent, perseverance and belief can make even the unthinkable possible. Your story has helped make people believe that even the impossible is possible.

2) Never lose focus, never give up

After making it to the national team (or even the India A team) and especially considering your humble background, you could have easily slipped into a comfort zone where a cushy domestic career as a cricketer could have earned you enough (certainly much more than in your erstwhile Railways job) to lead a comfortable life even as a domestic cricketer for Jharkhand or Railways, and most definitely as an ex-India (or even as an ex-India A) player. But, you never rested on your laurels. In fact, we have often seen countless talented cricketers going astray or not being able to maximise their potential only because they lost focus or did things only because others (especially the big city boys, fond of the good life) were doing. Again, as someone hailing from a little-known, non-Metro city, you could have easily taken the bait. But you didn't/ And, thank God for that!

3) Selfless

Perhaps one of the most touching aspects of your personality is your selfless attitude and your self-effacing nature. It is no secret that during moments of glory, you have redefined the template of captaincy by letting others take the limelight. You were happy to just receive any tournament's trophy (in fact, it seems if you were to have your way, you might allow the Man of the match or Man of the Series or the junior-most member of the team or anyone else to collect it) and just step aside.

Often, captains are easy to spot after a presentation - right at the center. You were no different: you were easy to spot too. Right at the far-end, one corner or another, surely in the background. Thank you for not just defining but also exhibiting and living like how a true leader should.

4) Fearless

From audacious strokes to bold and unconventional captaincy tactics (though perhaps not as much in Tests!), you always did what your heart said. It did not matter if it had been done or not done before. If it made sense to you, you did it. Be it your trademark helicopter shot or your unique ways of collecting the ball to catch the batsmen unawares or your cool swagger in taking the game deep and often emerging as the ultimate finisher, backing your instincts with batting/bowling choices and field placements, you never let go of your cricketing acumen. A huge reason why India reached the pinnacle in every form of the game under you - No. 1 in Tests and World Cup winners in ODIs and T20, besides beating Australia in Australia (ODIs) and winning the Champions Trophy (oh, and although this is not national colors but still, as best as international level - in multiple IPL triumphs) - these are achievements one can only dream about. You achieved them all and achieved them thanks to all these qualities of cricketing skill, tactical astuteness, focus, leadership, self belief, selflessness and fearlessness.

5) Equanimity

Your calm mind and match reading have now attained cult status. We have run out of instances and adjectives that describe how well you read and reacted during any (many) critical situation(s). Again, for most captains, all the calm and equanimity is only a means to an end. But for you, it is how you are and who you are. For, if it were not so, you would finally let your emotions roll unbridled after having achieved a win. But no, even after that, you would stay your usual self, poker faced, be it victory or defeat! In fact, it is a great exercise to observe you walking back after a win as well as after a loss, and if one can mask the scores or commentary that gives away the result or the expressions of your teammates around you, and then watches you going about your business, one would find you look the same, both in victory and in defeat. You could have walking back after a 100 or after 0, or after a win or a loss, and one would often struggle to spot a change in your deportment/

Thank you, MSD for not just entertaining us and giving us some of our most cherished moments as cricket lovers, but also for exemplifying some of the best qualities in life. You are not just a legend, you are a role model too. Not just for cricket, not just for captaincy, but also for life. 

Thanks for the wishes, champion and wish you the very best forever!

(Oh, and of course, can't wait to keep watching you in at least the yellow jersey for now!) :)

From 6 sixes to 5 hundred!

It's been almost 13 years.

Yes, that famous night of September 2007 of the first-ever T20 World Cup, when a certain Yuvraj Singh in his pomp (and already charged up in the previous over by Andrew Flintoff), smashed a clueless, hapless Stuart Broad for 6 consecutive sixes in an over.

While the entire world quite appropriately celebrated Yuvraj, Stuard Broad was relegated to just be a quiz question, much like Malcolm Nash after what Sir Gary Sobers had done to him - Who was the bowler whom Sobers hit for 6 sixes in an over? So here was Broad, in a rather avoidable league, giving company to Malcolm Nash in international cricket trivia.

Cut to 2011 for the 50-over World Cup in India. 

The stage: England Vs Ireland. 

You would think that lightning doesn't strike twice.

Yet, here was Broad, his shoulders anything but broad after his crucial 48th over turned out to be disastrous. What's more, his spilled opportunity contributed to England losing to minnows Ireland in that match.

As they say, it doesn't get bigger than this - two world cup occasions. But two huge blunders. 

Forget the result, think of the psyche of the person.

Can one even imagine what all he must have gone through?

Yet, Broad did not wilt, did not succumb.

Credit to the England team management too, for handling him remarkably well and for giving him the confidence and assurance that would have surely helped him believe he was still among the best England had. And as they say, after all these years, here we are today, lauding the man for reaching a summit that only 6 other legends have scaled before him, in the history of the game.

Fittingly, the 500 wickets he has taken, have come in the area that let him down, on two of those rare World Cup off-days - in his bowling only.

As cliched as it may sound, this just goes on to only add credence to the fact that we can always achieve great heights, if we remain steadfast, if we keep learning and improving and if we keep persevering, without doubting ourselves.

Well done Broady, and thank you for exemplifying such a pertinent life lesson through your tremendous achievement! Attaboy!

When life gives you 2020..

As the clock struck 12 on Dec 31, 2019 and the midnight ushered in the new year, I wonder if anyone had any inkling how 2020 would treat the world.

Almost half a year after those new year messages and social media posts, here we are - wistfully assessing if there's anything - anything at all about 2020 (for most, if not all people) to be happy about. And I haven't even gone local.

Coronavirus, masks, sanitizers, at least 20 seconds of hand wash after touching externally-sourced items, remote way of working, social distancing, living without maids, drivers, malls, et al - this is the new normal.

6 months ago, who could have said that the US would be on its knees (Corona, David Floyd)?

Who knew that eating out or shopping (physical, not virtual/online) would become mere memories?

Teachers taking classes online, students attending it like a circus ('Keep yourself on mute, class!') and academic institutions postponing exams/promoting candidates en masse - the world has well and truly changed.

But, you know, we Indians cannot stay content with just a few. We have always had just a few more irritants to contend with.
Locusts, frequent (albeit low-intensity) earthquakes, online theft and robberies - you name it, we've probably seen every problem in the book.

Reason enough to be disappointed..

Yet, yet, yet....


The year is only halfway done.
So what if the war's just begun?

Yes, the current times are bleak
But just be positive and not meek.


Whenever you find that
life has made you a pawn
Remember: It gets darkest,
only just before dawn.

So pull up, chin up, and stay as calm as a Boeing.
When the going gets tough, the tough get going.

Stay put, stay safe!

It's an understatement to say that Covid-19 has hit every country, every economy bigtime.
The worst part is that in places like India, even the lockdown has not been able to flatten the curve. You could blame it on the poor discipline of our citizens or on the migration influx or on the resurgence (albeit partial) in people's activity and movement, post-lockdown,

Every time the Corona count (of cases and deaths) reaches a new high, we scale a new low.
It's time to junk all negative news and just focus on being indoors. Some people think being cautious and preventive means being foolish or timid. I read someone say "I won't die hiding like a rat".

Sure, but the times are such that it will be perniciously foolhardy to just throw caution to the winds, and not take any precautions. However frustrating it may be, it is best to stay indoors.

Yes, you may be bored, yes your hands must be fed up of being washed a thousand times, but as they say, you gotta do what you gotta do. This is not the time to be a Sehwag, be a Dravid right now. Bide your time, stay within your crease and do not give any room for error.

It will look boring, no doubt.
It will sap you ever so much.
But it will ensure you are safe.

This is the only way we can make it to the other side of the pandemic, or of any adversity for that matter - by being courageous and prudent, by doing all that we can, and by biding our time.
It's not for nothing that they say, tough times don't last, tough people do.
May everyone stay safe, healthy and happy!
Amen, and let's see this off together.

Playing just like Dravid, is so very crucial today
After this is over, we'll also be Sehwag one day!