The weight on Dhoni

He is not the youngest cricket captain of the Indian team. Pataudi and Azharuddin donned that cap at younger age. But Dhoni most certainly will find the going too rough for him compared to what others have faced in the past.

There are reasons. The BCCI is facing stiff challenge from Zee-controlled ICL. For BCCI chief, the ‘cricket minister’ Sharad Pawar, it is a prestigious fight. Sadly nothing has gone well for him after he wrested control of the purse strings of the nation’s richest sports body.

Team India fared miserably at the last World Cup at the Windies. One recalls elephant-like departure and ant-like arrival of the team while the Cup was not even half way through. Dhoni, for example, couldn’t go to his hometown Ranchi for fear of reprisal.

He instead spent few days playing club cricket in Kolkata because he felt he must start afresh. Now that he is selected captain of the one-day team, all those post world cup days must have faded away from memory.

But that doesn’t mean he can have peace in coming days. One can be reasonably certain that India is likely to suffer drubbing at the hands of Australians in the coming one-day series. Who knows that perhaps was one reason why Dravid vacated the pole post in a hurry (if so, shame on him!).

If Dhoni can ride over the Australian challenge with relative ease, well and good. If not, God save him! [Image source]