I read a tweet on Sunday that Hindustan Times lead picture did not have Dhoni in the frame. Then I noticed that it was difficult to spot him even in Times of India picture. On news channels also, the pictures of the players with the cup did not have Dhoni in them.
Where is Dhoni? And I was aghast. This set me thinking.
Dhoni has won the T20 world cup, got India to the No 1 in test ranking, won the IPL and CL, and finally, after 28 years THE world cup. But who is taken around the stadium on the players’ shoulders? Sachin. Who is the stadium rooting for? Sachin. What is the mystery?
You can turn around and say that Dhoni was lucky to have been the captain at the right time. He had great senior players and talented youngsters in the team. However, fact is that he has had very different teams in all the championships that he has won. T20, Tests, IPL/CL and ODIs. He has been the glue to put the teams together, not the other way around. The fact that leaders are often considered to be lucky when the times are going good, but does someone really take note of the invisible efforts being put in by the individual. Keeping the team together and excited in one of the most important, but undermined, jobs done by a successful leader – doesn’t Dhoni just demonstrate that?
Look at Dhoni’s statements over a period of time, which are honest to say the very least. “We are not a good fielding side”, “I took some wrong decisions”, “reading the pitch wrong and playing 3 seamers”. Taking on his team mates publicly. He backs team members and takes tough decisions at the same time. Backing Piyush Chawla to the hilt or dropping Yuvraj or Raina are tough decisions taken by him. I am yet to notice bias in his decision making. He has dropped Ashwin from ODIs, despite him being a worthy team mate in CSK. More often than not, leaders with a WYSIWYG (What you see is What you get) style of working are the most criticized lot, even if it helps keeping the team aware of their strengths and weaknesses promptly. When this leader takes the blame upon himself, he is criticized for not carrying out things properly, but when the same leader blames it on his team, it is seen as a “Blame Game”. Aren’t we a bit too critical for leaders, including Dhoni?
Since becoming captain in ODIs he transformed himself from a dasher to an accumulator. With enough dashers around, he changed his role in the team for the sake of the team. As a captain his average is 52.7 vs 44.2 as a non captain, though his strike rate drops from 96.3 to 82.4. His numbers of 6s per innings go down to 0.56 from 0.95. A number of times, a leader puts his individual performance at the back seat and adapts as the team requires him to.
I can go and on and on about Dhoni’s professional achievements as a captain. His humility as an individual (his pictures of sharing birthday cake with my colleague or pictures with my sons are some examples). Any comparisons with Ganguly and Afridi are misplaced. He definitely doesn’t wear his emotions on his sleeve. He is the real man taking “criticism” and “Failures” on his face and letting go the entire credit of the Achievements to his individual Team Members. To me, all this, and more make Dhoni a True Leader!
Then suddenly the realisation dawns on me! This is about where the limelight lies, or where it is not? So, “Do leaders shy away when it comes to being in limelight?”
We should not pity him for missing from the frame of Hindustan Times lead picture on the day nation went crazy. We should give him due credit. It is about stepping back and letting your colleagues savour the moment! This is about having confidence and absence of insecurity – a situation in which you let your team steal the limelight while you smile at the back end, content with your and your team’s performance. It is this confidence, that makes him appreciate the past. Examples are of co sharing the trophy with Kumble, or letting Ganguly lead the last few overs of his test career. It is this confidence, that still makes him thank all his seniors for the victory of his team!
I can say that true leaders only create Limelight and not necessarily be in it – Just the MS Dhoni way!
PS: As usual, would be looking forward to your feedback and opinion on this blog! You can also reach me out at @agrawalsanjeev on twitter.
