Well, now that India have come a full circle and won all the major ICC trophies, I feel I have something to share. There have been innumerable comparisons, discrimination, calumny and fallacious accusations against some of our best leaders, legendary captains.While it is reasonable in some cases, the majority are apocryphal. The critics are now taking this trend to the strongest networking platform, “Facebook“. Being an avid user of Facebook, I come across different posts and it is really saddening to realize some are really deranged. I was busy updating my status the other day, sharing what’s on my mind and that’s when a friend of mine, with whom I’ve played my age group inter-districts matches(cricket) suggested me to write a blog on this menacing issue. So I chose to share something about this with my dear friends and peers.

With more and more evolving social networks like  Facebook and Twitter, everyone becomes a critic irrespective of what and how much they know about the game. Here, knowledge never plays a role. All you need is an ID for yourself, just sign up, log in and start reviewing everything right from sports, political issues to movies and the list never ends there. The one comparison I’m going to talk about is between the then successful captain Saurav Ganguly and the current Indian skipper, stalwart Mahendra Singh Dhoni. Whenever a tournament has been won by our Indian contingent, there’s a festival out here as cricket is more than just a game of gentlemen. It is religion. I never understood the motto behind some people hating Dhoni. And you ask for reasons, all you get is “Dada is the best captain, not Dhoni”. Now what this answer has to do with your allegations against Dhoni, my dear haters?I too agree Ganguly has been a revelation as a captain, has been the most aggressive of those times where cricket was touted to be a subtle sport. I’m a left handed batsman myself and Ganguly is my inspiration. But that doesn’t take away the success Dhoni has had in his decade long career. The most accusatory charge was “Dhoni was lucky enough to have the best players in best of their forms and winning was easier whereas Ganguly won even with his average pool of players and so, Ganguly is number one”. I’d like to tell that everyone is a good player and brought into the team only on merit and performances. So there’s no point in comparing the strengths of players now and then. What Dhoni does is he brings the best out of every individual. That is something to be reckoned with. Who would have expected a career for Joginder Sharma? How many pundits would have supported the decision of Jogi bowling the last over instead of a lead spinner in Harbhajan Singh? As Dhoni suggests in a famous advertisement, “to be successful, you have to be different”. Not everyone can do this, not everyone can put up a smile at crucial junctures. We must accept the fact that now in India, every fan would be relaxed even at the most crucial situations. Who has instilled that in us? Well I think you’re agreeing to where the topic is treading. The problem with we people is, we don’t accept when two elements share top honors. We want the “numero uno” spot to be held by only one person and if at all there are more than just one, it means they’re rivals. We need to grow up. We need to understand that Dhoni has played with Saurav, has also led the team that had Saurav Ganguly. And dada has never been partial to anyone anywhere anytime. It was him who was at his ebullient best when India won under Dhoni’s captaincy and it was again him criticising Dhoni’s leadership tactics when India lost eight tests on a trot. He’s just a cricket lover, and all his reviews are sensible and neutral enough. It’s just insensible elements creating unwanted ruckus. I want to reiterate the fact that, as far as stats are concerned, Dhoni is the most successful captain for India thus far and Saurav is the pioneer who started the trend of believing in your team. There’s no Dhoni in Ganguly and vice versa. Respect individuality and uniqueness, and accept the results as they come. Simple as that !!! Thanks.