Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s was more than a team,
it was an empire. Retirement from Tests is his way of relinquishing far away
outposts whose tending was becoming more of an irritant.
In his golden era, he had under his
command, the Generals, each an ambassador to these outposts. With their fading,
the rules of engagement changed.
How many Waterloos can an Emperor survive?
Far too many if the homeland is secure and
the coffers are overflowing. The return of the colonisers, however, changed that in 2013. The homeland was breached. Two
more Generals were on the wane.
The desire to make Generals out of trusted
lieutenants was deep; Emperor himself was a foot-soldier, one who had risen through
the ranks, from quick combats to command his men in the Five Day Wars.
One such lieutenant, Suresh Kumar Raina, lasted 17 Wars (2010-2012). A master in swift-combat
and home battles, he failed to score four times in his last four wars. Only to
return in 2015, and fail to score yet again.
Recruited for the Australian sidelines, his
moment in the sun was a selfie with the partly-retiring Emperor.
Another lieutenant, Ravindrasinh Anirudhsinh Jadeja, lasted 12 Wars (2012-2014). A
chieftain at home, and the go-to man for a skirmish, foreign lands exposed his
travel weary spirit.
A burgeoning Rajputana moustache and beard
couldn't hide the boy within, he claimed to have been bullied in the Isles –
but there were no videos from the aisles. Both he and his Emperor were
demeaned.
As too in the case of Rudra Pratap Singh, a holidaying lieutenant in far away sands, who
was rushed to prove his allegiance – 14 Wars in more than 5 years with well
over 3 years between the last 2. Yet he was there.
Then there was the Talented Lieutenant in
waiting, Rohit Gurunath Sharma, after
many stop-and-start battles (126, 2007-2014), he fought his first war at home.
But once away, he missed home way too much to put up a fight. Stop-and-start
wars followed, 9 in over a year, often picked to be discarded. To be picked yet
again.
More than a lieutenant but treated no less
than a foot-soldier was he, Ravichandran
Ashwin – from the Emperor's right hand man at home, he was left out in the
cold. 23 Wars (2011-2014) the fastest to 100 skulls for his Lord; he only
served in 8 wars overseas.
Was he more than a lieutenant, had he an
independent mind? Was he more a general? Or with his skills, even an
ambassador, dare I say, a King?
But none of these even came close to the
man from the North, Yuvraj Singh.
Well before the Emperor's time but a mere 40 wars (2003-2012), won the biggest
battles but still not proven in war. There was a lesson in his failures, one
that wasn't applied in recruiting fresh lieutenants.
Beyond them there was an insider who was an
exception; Murali Vijay lost most of
his scattered battles (only 14, 2010-2014) but went on to win some wars, especially
the later ones which were far less scattered (30, 2008-2014). Even though he was no longer a lieutenant, he
owed much to the Emperor's persistence with him.
There were others, not yet lieutenants but
trusted stable boys, Mohit Mahipal
Sharma, Ishwar Chand Pandey – who walked with the Emperor in those
midsummer night skirmishes at home. Will they ever fight a war now?
And so the Emperor becomes a mere
wallflower for the time being. But not before he suggests that one of his
erstwhile foreign generals, Michael
Edward Killeen Hussey shepherd the army.
His erstwhile army is now under the command
of a new general, Virat Kohli.
The army will fight under two commands.
Under the Emperor will be most of his
trusted old lieutenants. As with their leader, they too will return to a combat
they yearn for.
King Kohli will command two quiet men, both
without rank – one who shone in last year’s wars, Ajinkya Madhukar Rahane, the other, Cheteshwar Arvind Pujara, the years’ before. Neither are the
Emperor’s men. Both prove themselves in a long apprenticeship before they could
fight alongside him.
As for the Emperor, a few weeks away before
he returns on 18th January to lead his lieutenants again.
He’s won enough battles and lost enough
wars to sit back and ask himself at leisure – would he pick Subedar Kannaur Lokesh Rahul and Major Manoj Kumar Tiwary to fight his
battles? No? Then why ask all those lieutenants to fight his wars?
Notes:
Skirmishes
= IPL/T20
Battles
= ODIs, T20I
Wars
= Tests
Lieutenants
= CSK / Limited Overs’ Players
Generals
= SRT, RD, VVS, VS, GG, ZK
Emperor = MSD
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