MS Dhoni - TC to TC: From Ticket Collector to Test Captain

About a month back, a biopic on MS Dhoni's life was announced by a major production house in India. Sushant Singh Rajput, a new-gen Bollywood actor, reportedly grew long locks to play MS. There was to be no biography/autobiography of any sort. Dhoni's story would move straight from the cricket field to the silver screen. It has been that kind of a story. MS Dhoni, broke the metropolitan monopoly, and carved out a small, yet significant, part in Indian Test history. They say, the journey is more important than the end or the start, and MS Dhoni's journey took him from being a Ticket Collector with Indian Railways to India Test Captain. It was an incredible journey, that ended soon after the Boxing Day Test against Australia in 2014.The beginnings were small and humble, as it often is, for Indian cricketers from middle-class backgrounds. Dhoni, having excelled in school and club cricket, moved to Kharagpur, as a 20-year-old, in search of employment. The then-divisional railway manager of South Eastern Railway was in need of a wicket-keeper batsman. 60 balls later, Dhoni was handed a job via Sports Quota. While it was well known in local circles that Dhoni was cut-out for bigger things, he almost, quite literally, missed the flight to a career in international cricket. Having not been informed of his selection in the East Zone side, Dhoni, who was offered a ride to the Kolkata airport, suffered another heartbreak when the car broke down midway thereby allowing Deep Dasgupta to play the Duleep Trophy game the next morning. But success can never be contained, only delayed. He fought his way through the rigors of domestic cricket and won his first Test Cap in 2005 against Sri Lanka in Chennai, a city that would embrace him as their own in later years. Dhoni was not your archetypal Test cricketer. In front or behind the stumps, unorthodoxy ruled large in his game. Cricket to him, was as much between the ears, as it was with hands and legs. He didn't try to paper over his inadequacies and instead, took over an Indian Test side in its twilight and handed it back, just before dawn. In the process, he became India's most successful captain (in terms of Tests won - 27) and led India during its 18-month reign at the top of the Test rankings, between 2009-2011.

In only his fifth Test, he took on Shoaib Akhtar in Faisalabad with India still 107-shy of Pakistan's first innings score and composed a typically brutal 148. During his penultimate series at home, his 224 in Chennai against the visiting Australian side helped India push for a win. And, earlier this year, even as India's top-order repeatedly crumbled against the swing of James Anderson and Stuart Broad, his counter-attacking half-centuries gave the Indian scorecard some semblance of respectability.Despite his core competence lying in the limited overs format, Dhoni didn't choose to skip the long format much earlier. Instead, like Bruce Wayne from the Dark Knight series, he chose to live long enough to see himself become the villain. At 33, his greying beard was reflective of the toil of leading an Indian side bereft of experience. Overseas failures were constantly scrutinized. He was accused of 'letting the game drift' and 'employing defensive strategies' far too often. Maybe, rightly so. But, in his defense, he was merely playing with the resources at his disposal. Virender Sehwag didn't set up Test matches anymore. There was no Anil Kumble to run through the opposition tail. Zaheer Khan was nowhere near the bowler he once was and the famed Indian middle-order of the early 2000s had run its course. Yet, he duly faced media sharks after every defeat, and maintained his composure and his sense of humour. An Indian journalist in New Zealand, in 2014, questioned his reluctance to using four seamers in overseas to which he quipped in his inimitable style: "Two things happen whenever we play with four fast bowlers. One, the captain gets banned. Two, we lose."Dhoni had a strange relationship with numbers. He once told former India coach, Greg Chappell that he if he saw off his first 13 deliveries, he could win the match for India! Having seen India through a very difficult phase in 2013-14 that included only overseas Tests, in South Africa, New Zealand, England and Australia, he could have easily chosen the home series to right the wrongs and sign off, especially with a confident new team beginning to take shape. He played 90 Test matches, 60 as captain in a nine-year Test career. Maybe, round figures are not his thing. Maybe, it's a wicket-keeper thing after all (Adam Gilchrist played 96 Tests). Yet, in his own understated way, he surpassed the legendary Sunil Gavaskar for scoring the most Test runs as India captain and effected 9 dismissals (also a record) in his final Test. There was to be no farewell Test. No outpouring of emotions. Dhoni left Test cricket, the way he entered. Quiet, understated and without any fuss. The last time Australia and India played out a draw in Delhi in 2008, it was Anil Kumble's last Test and Dhoni took over as Test captain. And now, after a drawn Test in Melbourne, Dhoni called it quits. Over to you, Virat!