If I had let pressure get to me, I would’ve been crushed: Dhoni

"Last question," said Team India's local media manager for the sixth straight time as he gave his go-ahead to another reporter who, like many others before him, was ready to shoot a pointed question with a thorny sub-text at the Indian skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni. It was the eve of an inconsequential game, with the series already lost, and Dhoni, for close to 20 minutes, was getting hell.

After answering the previous 'last question', Dhoni had risen from his chair but the manager, who had his back to the skipper, seemed in a mood to squeeze in the final 'final query'. The skipper got hold of the lenient official by his shoulder and, in a mocking sort of way, conveyed that he had enough for the day.

As Dhoni walked out of the room the air felt lighter. The heavy criticism that had been raised by former cricketers in TV studios and newspaper columns had permanently hung like a cloud over Dhoni's head as he had sat alone on the podium with a mike in hand. He was asked if he agreed with the experts — read Gavaskar, Imran, Zaheer Abbas and others — who thought that the IPL, hectic schedule, non-performing seniors and non-talking coach had contributed to India's slump. And as a supplementary: If playing Ajinkya Rahane could change it all for India?

Amused by this 'on and off-the-field' spectacle that has coincided with the home team's loss, a reporter from across the border seemed moved by the captain's plight. "With so much criticism from the former players and others, doesn't the pressure affect you?," he asked. "Tell-me-about-it," Dhoni would have answered had it not been for the cameras and the tape recorder. Still, with a smirk on his face, Dhoni poured his heart out. "Agar main pressure leta, to ab tak toot ke bikhar gaya hota." Loose translation: "I would have been broken to smithereens."

... contd.

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