A Shepherd

It was in Bangladesh in 2004 a young, tall lad with long hair stepped on the pitch of Banglabandu stadium with his pads on and mixed feelings of anxiety, happiness and confidence. He played his first ball but unfortunately got run out on a duck. No one would have actually thought that this simple looking; meek guy would be team as one of the most successful captains of the India cricket team three years down the line. And today he is known by different names Captain Cool, Cucumber Cool Captain and more adorably he is known as ‘Mahi’.

In spite of not performing well in the first two series, it was skipper, Sourav Ganguly who did not lose faith in him and finally he passed the acid test in April 2005, when Pakistan toured India. He scored massive 148 runs merely in 123 balls. And then there was no looking back for him. He retained his place in the team permanently in the playing eleven. He always came to bat at number seven and played vital role in making India win many matches, it was then he got a new name i.e. ‘finisher’. People started seeing him as a spine of the middle order. Although, the big shots of cricket raised questions on his batting style and raised questions on his footwork, but he played his role without paying a heed to his critics and gave his heart out on the field.

It was when Rahul Dravid resigned from his captaincy, the big shots of cricket like Sunil Gavaskar, Kapil Dev had foreseen Yuvraj Singh as a successor of Rahul Dravid. Everyone thought that Yuvraj will become the new leader of the team, but everyone got zapped, when the BCCI declared Dhoni as the new skipper of the team. Dhoni in a very short while added many feathers of victory to his cap. No one will forget the T20 World Cup which made the whole nation proud. He also defeated Australia in Australia and today he became the first captain of India to win nine matches in row. People saw him as a shepherd who guides his sheep to the destination.

Mahi hails from Ranchi, a very small city where the cricketers are not even privileged to bat on proper pitches, with no proper facilities or a formal training in cricket unlike in the bigger cities. Mahi comes from a humble background. His family could not even afford a luxury of a tennis ball. But even then, Mahi always gave his best and always believed in beating the odds. He rose like a phoenix from the ashes.

Today not only his parents but also the whole nation is proud of him and that’s why he is known as the ‘Son of India’.