Wicket-keeper, an aggressive
batsman and the captain of India’s Test, one-day and Twenty20 cricket
Mahendra Singh Dhoni is a master at juggling different jobs at the same
time.
Now, on the eve of the Champions Trophy,
which opens in England and Wales this week, Dhoni was
burdened with
another task – protecting the alleged sins of his pay-masters.
Indian cricket was thrown into chaos
last month when three players, including a recent test bowler
Shanthakumaran Sreesanth, were arrested on charges of spot fixing during
a brilliant Indian Premier League.
Further trouble set Sunday for the
country’s powerful cricket chief, Narayanswamy Srinivasan, who retired
from his post while the police investigation via his son-in-law Gurunath
Meiyappan to illegal Bookmakers were continuing.
Meiyappan was accredited as a ‘team
owner’ IPL franchise Chennai Super Kings, owned a business venture in
India Cements Srinivasan, which led to an uprising in the Indian Council
against their boss.
Dhoni shared a special bond with
Srinivasan not only as captain of India and Chennai Super Kings, but
also as a vice-president of India Cements, the appointment made at the
beginning of this year.
As he plots strategy for India ahead of
their Champions Trophy match against South Africa in Cardiff on
Thursday, Dhoni has also been busy fending off questions about the
scandal back home.
Unperturbed, the 31 year old has done a
good job of keeping cool so far, but it remains to be seen how long he
can keep his composure.
“When the time comes, I’ll answer it,”
Dhoni said in the bombardment of IPL-related requests in his
introductory media conference in England last week.
“Now, I want our side of everything.”
Sourav Ganguly, who took over as captain
of India soon after the match episode in 2000, which led to the fall of
Mohammad Azharuddin and the late South African captain Hansie Cronje,
sympathized with Don.
“Dhoni is in a tough position at the
moment,” Ganguly was quoted as saying in the Indian media. “I can
sympathize, because everyone wants explanation from him.
“But it’s not his fault that he was
picked up by Chennai Super Kings.’s Not his fault that Gurunath
(Meiyappan) is involved in the bet.”
Doni will know that he and his team can
recover the damaged reputation of Indian cricket, doing well in the
field, ranging from eight states Champions Trophy.
And he has the authority to hold revival.
In the past year, the extraordinary
career that began as an inspector of railway tickets in his home state
of Jharkhand, he saw Don hailed by Forbes magazine’s richest cricketer
in the world, with annual earnings of $ 26.5 million.
Taking over as captain in 2007 when
senior players refused to participate in the first Twenty20 World Cup in
South Africa, Dhoni is designed by one of the most remarkable runs in
India in the sport.
According to him, India won the World
Twenty20 in 2007, rose to number one in the Test rankings in 2009 and
raised over 50 World Cup in 2011, with Dhoni hitting it won six against
Sri Lanka in Mumbai final.
But two humiliating 4-0 Test whitewash
in England and Australia, and then a rare home series defeat against
England last year, led to calls for removal of Don party as a whole.
Dhoni has not only kept the captain’s
armband – only through the intervention of Srinivasan – but also hit
back by leading India to a 4-0 rout of Australia in the Test series at
home earlier this year.
He will now have to show similar agility to pull the Indian cricket from the pit again.
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