Mumbai, 2nd April, 2011: Dhoni kicked off the largest party on planet earth when he sent the cricket ball soaring into orbit to win India it’s second ICC World Cup trophy!
A couple of hours earlier, when Dhoni strode in to bat, the nation was stunned to pin-drop silence. The Indian team was struggling at 114-3 and it looked like the jinx of a host nation having never won the World Cup in it’s previous 9 editions was well and truly working! The only glimmer of hope was Yuvraj Singh, the in-form batsman who was due to come in at the fall of the 3rd wicket. But instead, out walked the India captain to the country’s utter shock and disbelief. Dhoni was having a nightmarish series with the bat and nobody expected him to promote himself up the batting order… and that too, ahead of Yuvraj! It was 28 long years since India won its last and only World Cup, and it seemed like the passionate fans were doomed to wait till 2015 for another shot at regaining the trophy.
But as the proverb goes, Cometh the Hour, Cometh the Man! In what turned out to be an abject lesson in leadership, Dhoni led from the front to take his team to a most deserving championship victory! He failed with the bat throughout the tournament, but when the hour of reckoning came, Dhoni had the guts to put himself on the firing line and fight his way to a match-winning knock through sheer grit and determination.
If Dhoni had failed with the bat, and thereby contributed to his side’s defeat, he would probably have been lynched by the most fanatical cricket fans in the world. But he put his head on the block… and emerged with the crown on it. Today, he’s the toast of 1.2 billion people!
NO GUTS, NO GLORY!!!
