M.S. Dhoni - From an Idol to a Figure of Loathe

          Hello Folks!! I am back after a two month hiatus. I start off from the break with not exactly a typical blog, but a personal message about what I feel about the Indian limited overs skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni. I first saw him on Television playing in a Tri-series for the India A team involving Kenya and Pakistan in the former's home territory. He scored back to back centuries in that series. I became his fan instantly. 

      He got recognition in the wilderness of Kenya and was selected for his debut international series in Bangladesh in December 2004. He made an immediate impact by scoring two brutal centuries against Pakistan and Sri Lanka the following year. The performances brought about a curiosity in everybody to know more about him. He was in the news regularly. His life became one of the the greatest stories of success. From being a ticket collector in the Railways to representing India in cricket at the International level. Jharkand, a small state in Eastern India was placed on the world map by him. This was a fairy tale story and it inspired me always whenever I saw him playing. He became my Idol.

          Soon he became the captain of the Indian side and he performed exceedingly well, winning the T-20 World Cup and an ODI Tri-series in Australia. Things only got better, with India reaching the summit of Test cricket for the first time under his able leadership. But, then came a tournament that destroyed his reputation and my respect towards him. It was the Indian Premier League(IPL). The first two years of this cash rich league went on smoothly without any major roadblocks. Even here he was the most sought after player because of his enigmatic captaincy and power hitting. But from the third year,  scandal after scandal hit the league. Reports of spot-fixing,match-fixing and betting emerged. Every single match was under scrutiny. 

         A match between the Chennai Super Kings(CSK) and Rajasthan Royals(RR) in 2013 was found to be highly suspicious.Later that season key individuals from these two teams were found to be involved in betting. One of which was the "team principal" of the CSK side, Mr. Gurunath Meiyappan. During Interrogation of the key members of the team which also included Dhoni, a number of grueling questions were asked. One question that they asked Dhoni was this- "Does Gurunath hold any position in the CSK setup?". His answer was "No" and he termed him as just a "Cricket enthusiast". But further investigations revealed that Gurunath was an integral member in the CSK management setup, attending all the auctions and also viewing all the matches from the dugout.Both of these privileges are entitled to only select members of the team management and Gurunath was one of them. 

         A thorough investigation later brought out some shocking revelations. It was found that prior to the CSK versus RR game in 2013, Gurunath had interacted with a team member asking him  to divulge the Playing XI of the CSK side before placing his bets. Through all this, Dhoni's name was circulating in one matter or the other. I never believed in all the accusations surrounding Dhoni. He was my Idol. I could not digest the fact that he was involved in any of this. But in 2015, the Justice Mudgal report revealed all the truth. Both Gurunath and Raj Kundra(co-owner of RR) were banned from any further participation in cricket related activities and their respective teams were barred from playing the IPL in 2016 and 2017. It was evident from this result, that what Dhoni had deposed before the investigating committee was "not the truth". I say "not the truth" and not "wrong"  because he knew the truth and had chosen not to speak it.

          This whole episode was an eye opener to me. I lost all the respect I had for M.S Dhoni. I started to loathe him. I am in no way suggesting that he did it willingly. I always found him raising a bar in every aspect, which I believe made him special, but in this case he chose not to. Its certainly his choice. It was also the choice of Brendon McCullum. But he chose the other option,disclosing all that he knew about the Chris Cairns trail. The respect of the entire cricket fraternity towards him grew automatically. Yes, many may argue that the BCCI, run by Mr. Srinivasan(co-owner of CSK), had gagged Dhoni from speaking in front of the media about the scandals in the IPL. But being the captain of the Indian team I feel that he should have come forward and cleared the air about the allegations on him and the IPL. I am sure the whole of India would have welcomed this gesture from him.This is what leading by example under any circumstance is all about. Mr. Dhoni you've not just lost a fan but a person who admired your values and tried to imbibe them in himself. If you are reading this, I would like to add that I hope one day you will come out and speak what had actually transpired.