Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s ascent in Indian Cricket was heartily welcomed as the rise of a new star. India has had its fair share of all-rounders in history but Dhoni was set not to join the club. He was a gifted wicket-keeper equally adept with the bat. He was paralleled with genius Australian wicket-keeping batsmen Adam Gilchrist. He added another feather to his cap when he was promoted as the captain of the Indian team. After India won the ICC Twenty20 World Cup, Dhoni was accepted as the crown prince to the throne of the sultan of Indian cricket. The MTV Youth Icon award in 2006 shows his tremendous popularity amongst the masses and Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna award this year vindicates his prowess in all trades of game, batting-keeping-captaincy.

However, he is equally criticized for his sharp tongue and over-the-top aggressive attitude. Dhoni has become notorious for his acidic takes against the seniors, adamant attitude when it comes to selection and being “too progressive” in his cricketing nature. When Sourav Ganguly and Rahul Dravid were left out of tri-series squad against Australia earlier this year, Dhoni expressed that he was very sure of the team he wanted for the series. He is known to prefer young players over the experienced veterans which might be a good step towards building the talent pool for future, but his high-handedness is something which leaves a bitter taste in mouth. His open refusal to take Sachin Tendulkar’s advice at SCG has raised several eyebrows, considering that Tendulkar has a very big hand in his rise to ODI Captaincy.

Dhoni is rumored to have a role in Ganguly’s ouster from the ODI Team. Former coach Anshuman Gaekwad opines, “Perhaps, Dhoni should learn how to keep quiet.” Former player Gundappa Vishwanath feels Dhoni is “probably a little inexperienced”. Taking seniors’ counsel won’t do any harm to him, in Cricket360’s opinion.

He was recently criticized for staying out of the Idea Cup Test Series. Critics say Dhoni prefers to stay out of series in which he’s not the captain and his performance alters accordingly. In the current series against Australia, Dhoni scored 9 in the first test (captained by Kumble) and 92 in the first innings of the second match which he is leading.

Is Dhoni necessary or evil? Cricket360 leaves the question open.

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3.25 Copyright (C) 2007 Alain Georgette / Copyright (C) 2006 Frantisek Hliva. All rights reserved."

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