Communication is not dhoni’s forte

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M.S Dhoni

When recently-retired Test player V.V.S. Laxman said that he had been unable to reach Team India skipper M.S. Dhoni over the phone, he was merely confirming what insiders of the game have known for a while and have grown accustomed to. MSD is easily the toughest Indian celebrity to reach.

“I was trying to call MS, obviously it’s very difficult to reach him (laughs),” said V.V.S. Laxman in his farewell press conference, adding, “and everyone knows that.”
According to a source close to Dhoni’s childhood friends, his reluctance to answer his phone is not totally due to his celebrity status. “He has been more or less like this for a long time. His growth as a cricketer has only made things worse. We always wonder how his family reaches him,” noted the source.
Not one to mince words, former Indian captain Sourav Ganguly says, “A skipper should be available for his players 24 hours. I don’t know why Dhoni does this... But I think the situation would have been different if Laxman had got Dhoni’s support,” said Ganguly.
This does not show Dhoni in a good light and even legend Amitabh Bachchan learnt it the hard way. “I did not get a single reply to the many congratulatory messages I sent nor did he return any of the missed calls,” the screen legend had said on a TV show. Dhoni had defended himself stating that he thought it was a prankster pretending to be Bachchan.
A cricket reporter, when he saw Dhoni’s cellphone, found it hard to believe that it showed more than 100 missed calls and unread messages.
The BCCI has not been spared either. Recently the board’s effort to reach Dhoni for a selection meeting proved futile. Prior to that an East Zone selector had to change the Duleep Trophy side at the last minute as he was unable to a get a confirmation from Dhoni regarding his availability for the zonal tournament.
The skipper is not regarded as the best communicator on the field either. And this could merely be a reflection of his off-field attitude when it comes to communicating with people.

Team India’s uncomfortable truth
Dhoni vs Sehwag
There was a complete breakdown in relationship between Dhoni and Virender Sehwag during India’s disastrous tour of Australia early this year. The skipper tried a rotational policy during the ODI series which meant only two of Sachin Tendulkar, Gautam Gambhir and Sehwag played together in a game.
While Dhoni claimed to the media that it was because seniors were ‘slow fielders’ and that they were negatively impacting the side, Sehwag exposed the real reason: “I did not know what he (Dhoni) said and what’s going on in media. He told us he wanted to give chance to youngsters who had come here and play the next World Cup. That’s what he told us.”
The differences between the two is the reason Sehwag gave up on India vice-captaincy, making it clear that while he’s very much interested in spearheading the Indian team in the future, he won’t be Dhoni’s deputy at any cost.
Dhoni vs Sreesanth
S. Sreesanth may be many things, but he’s anything but insincere. The temperamental speedster though has found little support from Dhoni both on and off the field. Sreesanth bowled his heart out in the Test leg of India’s tour to South Africa in late 2010, but was reduced to tears by Dhoni at the team hotel in Durban after South Africa skipper Graeme Smith complained to his Indian counterpart to rein in his fast bowler.
The incident occurred just months after Sreesanth was asked to ‘concentrate on your fielding. Don’t think about your girlfriend’ during India’s Test match against New Zealand at Ahmedabad.
Dhoni vs Gambhir
Dhoni’s relations have also become strained with his one-time ‘go-to man’ Gautam Gambhir. An ardent admirer of Dhoni’s leadership once, Gambhir added fuel to the rift intrigue by expressing his doubts over Dhoni’s finishing tactics following an ODI win against Australia at Adelaide early this year. Insiders insist that the picture isn’t as grim as it is made out to be, but say these, while cordial in front of each other, don’t agree on most issues any more leading to confusion in the dressing room.
The relations have further strained with Gambhir’s rather underwhel-ming performance in Tests recently — he last scored a hundred 20 Tests back!