What Dhoni says and what he means

Even though the Indian Test team was losing miserably and consistently overseas, when MS Dhoni announced his Test retirement in the middle of the series in Australia, the world kept asking why. It had a lot to do with the suddenness of the announcement. Dhoni's unorthodox ways with the bat may not be all timing and class but he does know to time the right moves off the field.

One BCCI official at the time coined it enthusiastically, "Dhoni's way of retirement." Virat Kohli who had been the captain in waiting went on to lead India in the following Test in Sydney to bring much needed freshness in approach. India did not win the Test, but Dhoni wasn't missed.

Dhoni with his instinctive ways as captain brought the same freshness to the table when his team won the inaugural World T20 title in 2007. The media began to celebrate him as the "man with the Midas touch" and when the IPL was born, CSK happened. Dhoni would soon become indispensable.

Interestingly when the pressure was mounting with spotlight over CSK during IPL investigations, speculations were rife that the 2015 World Cup could be his swansong. Dhoni at the time told a top BCCI official that he wasn't going away anywhere. "I will play the 2019 World Cup," he told him.

That may seem far fetched in today's context where Dhoni isn't the only power centre in Indian cricket with the new BCCI dispensation. In his post match conference after the series loss to Bangladesh, he spoke publicly of giving up captainship if that would help Indian cricket. It has spurred a flurry of reactions over his continuing as ODI skipper. Many are surprised over his self goal to spark a debate over his future.

But as noted earlier Dhoni has rarely got his timing wrong on such counts. A ODI series loss to Bangladesh in the first tournament following India's failed World Cup campaign was bound to invite question mark over his leadership. Particularly, when India's Test team under Virat Kohli was being ambitious and aiming to be number one. Most former players have been sympathetic following his public comments over captainship.

While some may loosely read his comments, as his offer to resign, the reality is Dhoni had summoned all the sarcasm in the world to hit out at critics with his complete statement. The hyperbole in Dhoni's comment was stark when he said that to some he was the reason for all the troubles in Indian cricket.

The other constituency Dhoni now also has to address is the dressing room. To many insiders Virat has raised the bar with his ruthless and aggressive approach. Getting back in the Dhoni way of things takes some adjustment.

Between 2007 and 2011 he was the best man to lead India as they became world beaters. But Indian cricket hasn't progressed much in the World Cup cycle of 2011-15. He would have to go back to his carefree approach of old to survive and continue to lead the way. Promoting himself to number four in the batting order was a start. But with greying hair and having developed ultra conservative habits as captain, can he change gears now?