“ Hold your heads high”.
This what what captain M S Dhoni said to his young team after the World Cup semi final loss.
This positive quality of the captain is worth admiring. Losing the world cup semifinal is definitely not a good feeling. It hurts a lot after coming such a long way. But, wins and losses do happen and instead of dwelling on the loss, being positive and moving on is much more important, and who better than M S Dhoni can teach us this.
He didn’t choke for words in the post match interview. His confident answers to the questions posed to him showed his maturity and stability. On being asked about the loss, he replied,
“We took it from someone ,so somebody took it from us. It’s as simple as that. The best team takes it for four years. If we would have played better, we would have got into the finals. In any international sport, you have to be at your best. Or else, the cup gets shared.”
A very apt reply. The Indiam team has played well throughout,and the loss is nothing to be ashamed of. Any one team had to win and yes, they had lost to a side which was much superior to them on that day. The Aussies performed with confidence, fearlessness, full of energy and they displayed some skilful bowling, aggressive batting and fielding. On the other hand,everything failed for the Indian team on that crucial day. The last overs gave away unnecessary runs, and the batting order ,too was not upto the mark. But ,it is unfair to label a team ‘bad’ just because they had everything going wrong on a particular day. It is a sport and such things are bound to happen.
The Indian team has come a long way and to reach the semi finals itself is something credible and one cannot expect the same country to always be at the top. Looking at the brighter side of things, we can say,that the young players have only gained through this tournament. They have learned a lot and this experience will definitely make them better players when they tour abroad in future.
M S Dhoni had absolutely no regrets. He had only appreciation for his team.
“ You guys have played well. You have done the country and me proud.”
This quality of his, will take him a long way in life. Appreciating and encouraging others is something which only the strong can do. These encouraging words coming from the captain will definitely boost the confidence of the young players. His reply when asked about his immediate plans was really impressive.
“I play for the enjoyment of the game and the day I decide to go, I will pack my bags and happily go away.”
What a realistic reply. You have to enjoy and be fully involved in whatever you do, whether it be sports or any other profession. Once the feeling of enjoyment is lost,then there is no point in continuing.
The Indian team is lucky to have M S Dhoni as the captain. In many cases , he has set an example to his team by being confident, and scoring runs even in crisis. His cool temperament on and off field is laudable. He has been India’s most successful skipper and the team has played some good cricket under his captaincy and will continue doing so in the future, too.
Winning and losing is part of life but having the qualities of a good human being is much more important and that is where M S Dhoni scores the highest points.
rajeshwarisopan 