Rooted in humility, keeping feet on earth

He may regret being unable to complete formal education but as he is enlightening himself on one of the finest – and inarguably toughest – platforms there can be, you can be sure that B-school students across the country may benefit from Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s experiences of leading, cajoling, motivating diverse personalities in that entity called Team India.
Yet, to my mind, quite apart from the growing maturity that is in evidence in his leadership and batting, the most remarkable feature of his evolution is the fact that he has not forgotten his humble roots and remained rooted in his humility. Those who have known him over some years will vouch that his character hasn’t changed a bit.
There is a readiness to learn from mistakes. He was at the receiving end of criticism for standing too far back to the faster bowlers in Australia, leading the slip cordon to be farther than necessary in the first two Tests. After India’s memorable victory in Perth, he did admit that he had not adjusted himself well to the bounce, expecting the ball to have more carry than it did.
As captain, there can be no better example of his willingness to admit a costly error than when he won the toss against Sri Lanka in the opening game at Dambulla recently and opted to bat on a track that was expected to help the bowlers in the first hour. India lost the game by an eight-wicket margin and he said he would have loved to have bowled first on the pitch.
Viewed from a larger perspective, for someone who defied the stereotype by saying he had not aspired for India captaincy, Dhoni has shown wonderful leadership skills. The immediate challenge that he faced on being named captain of the T20 side ahead of Virender Sehwag and Yuvraj Singh was to win them over – and he did that will so little fuss.
Critics constantly were snapping at his heels when the thinktank looked ahead and picked successive ODI teams without Sourav Ganguly and Rahul Dravid. But he was relentless in his vision for the team, basing it in on athleticism of the younger men like Gautam Gambhir, Rohit Sharma, Suresh Raina and Robin Uthappa.
He has remained steadfast in his support of the younger players even in the face of what seemed like a crisis. Unruffled by the absence of batsmen like Sachin Tendulkar and Sehwag, he banked on Virat Kohli. The other day after shepherding the team to another win over Sri Lanka, he suggested, half in jest, that he would have a heart attack on the field.
We saw early evidence of his being such a staunch believer in himself and his team when he ticked Ravi Shastri off during the presentations after the ICC World T20 victory over Australia. “Before I start I should say I read an article by you on cricinfo. You'd said Australia were the favourites. Today I think me and the boys, we proved you wrong,” he said.
The manner in which he convinced Sehwag to be of greater value to the team did both of them a world of good, adding layers to his own personality. There has been no hint of arrogance, just ample evidence of quiet confidence as he has gone about his job. And the wonderful thing is that there has been no change in his demeanour – after all, he remains the lad from Ranchi.
I cannot ever tire of narrating my own experience with him. Having flown with him to Ranchi to interview him in May 2006, I was on tenterhooks as my text messages to him remained undelivered. The cellphone network in Jharkhand’s capital was obviously so busy that attempts to reach him on his mobile were futile. It made sense to set off from the hotel to his home.
He wasn’t home, either and I waited for a good hour and a half and got ready to believe that he had given me the royal slip. I was delighted when a powerful motorbike wheeled in and I was able to complete my interview to my satisfaction. When I got back to my hotel, the receptionist handed me a small hand-written note.
Inked in all-capitals, it was clear and concise and had ample traces of an SMS addict:
HI HOW R U. WAS HERE BUT BELIEVE U HAD LEFT. WLD CATCH UP WITH U AFTER 10-30. TAKE CARE. BYE.
MAHI
To this day, despite growing in the cricket firmament as a thought leader and despite thriving in the business of proving people wrong, you can be sure he has kept his head on his shoulders and his feet firmly planted on terra firma.