The Savannah Grasslands, Serengeti, East Africa. A cheetah hides in the thick and tall grasses as it sizes up its potential prey, an Impala which is about 80 m away. It slowly closes in and takes up a position. It waits and waits. Till the opportune moment arrives. It even gives its prey which is far far away, a false sense of safety. Suddenly it springs into action at the decisive moment. Boom! 0-100 km/h in just three seconds. The impala doesn't have a chance, even with a head-start of about 100 m. Mahendra Singh Dhoni does pretty much the same in the cricket field to his opponents what the fastest land animal does in its hunt. That's how methodical Dhoni is in closing out games. Games which seem tricky chases. In some cases it may even look like a lost cause, but somehow he makes the impossible possible. The eventual inevitability of what is going to unravel in the end can be sensed by the viewers. The opponents sense it too. Some have devised clever strategies like bowling wide yorkers to contain him with some degree of success. A couple of IPL games here and there this year, in chasing middling 140-ish totals with no partner at the other end, he came up short. The failures however seem too few and far apart in recent times. More often than not once he takes control of the game he finishes it off. Most importantly, he never fails in big games. In finals. In decisive must-win games. That tells a great deal about his character and self-belief. He trusts his ability as much as cheetah trusts in its own ability. It just seems like a sweet feel good movie where the hero takes punch after punch, still keeps coming back and eventually knocks out the opponent in one deadly knock-out punch. And in a matter of minutes, game over!
How does he do it every time? 50 off 5 overs required. Singles and twos for a couple of overs, a boundary here and there. He takes it to 15 off last over. 25 off 30 balls required. Still he takes it to 15 off last over. It doesn't make any sense. If he has the ability to hit 15 runs off one over why not hit it now rather than leave it till the last over. Lets analyze a bit.
How does he do it every time? 50 off 5 overs required. Singles and twos for a couple of overs, a boundary here and there. He takes it to 15 off last over. 25 off 30 balls required. Still he takes it to 15 off last over. It doesn't make any sense. If he has the ability to hit 15 runs off one over why not hit it now rather than leave it till the last over. Lets analyze a bit.
- The so called pressure. As the game boils down to the final stages, pressure increases. Which the opponents don't handle too well. But he does. In fact handles it pretty well too.
- The Dhoni Formula.
Risk a (Wickets left/Balls left)* (1/Rating of opp. bowler)
Lets say we just have one wicket left in our above case of 25 runs off 30 balls. Then he waits and waits till the balls left is so less that he can afford to take the risk. He rates the opposition bowler among other options they have. And calculates the opportune moment where he can take a risk and get away with it without getting out. He knows his technique, his strength and devises his game plan according to the conditions and opposition. A risk free short is a block. Next comes a push for a single. And the stakes go higher and higher with the riskiest being a short for 6 with just one wicket in hand and the best opposition bowler is bowling. So if we evaluate the Dhoni formula with the recently concluded match against SL, to go after a Malinga delivery for a six was the riskiest. So he never chose that. He chose the least able, least experienced bowler with least number of balls left to go for the riskiest of shots. A six of Malinga and A six of Eranga are both going to give you six runs. Just that the later is less riskier. Which one will you choose? That's what Dhoni accomplishes. Taking common sense / cricketing sense decisions under high pressure with millions watching and succeeding. "Dhoni is a bit of a gambler" Ganguly once said. He may very well be right.
Agreed, the superhuman efforts of Dhoni make more impact only in the shorter format of the game. Agreed, there are other facets of the game, wicket-keeping and captaincy which can be argued about and debated. Dada vs Dhoni can wait for another day. This is just about his dimension as a finisher. He is no doubt the best in the business right now and one of the best ever. Agreed, he doesn't succeed every single time. But nor does the cheetah. What it makes for is a glorious entertainment. Creating awe inspiring moments. Creating thrillers. Creating close shaves. And ultimately, CREATING HISTORY! Dhoni, THE ULTIMATE FINISHER!
Agreed, the superhuman efforts of Dhoni make more impact only in the shorter format of the game. Agreed, there are other facets of the game, wicket-keeping and captaincy which can be argued about and debated. Dada vs Dhoni can wait for another day. This is just about his dimension as a finisher. He is no doubt the best in the business right now and one of the best ever. Agreed, he doesn't succeed every single time. But nor does the cheetah. What it makes for is a glorious entertainment. Creating awe inspiring moments. Creating thrillers. Creating close shaves. And ultimately, CREATING HISTORY! Dhoni, THE ULTIMATE FINISHER!