In the summer of 1895, the Gloucestershire 47 -year -old Portly was released for his region with a flowing beard who was never shaved to the bat. His knees were risky, and his belly, as PG Wodehouse wrote, turned into a mezzanine floor of his body.
He lived the perfect British life- ate anything he could, and a wide, sometimes during a lunch break of the match. About him, the goal, which was supposed to be behind the disaster for hours, said he had the dirtiest neck ever. The rotunda and the huge, as he was, his pants were always tied high to the waist with what resembled a tie to fall while he bowed and fired.
In the second match of the season of the English district scored his first century-HIS 99. At the time the first fortnight of the season ended, he scored two two hundred. And by the end of the first month he exceeded 1000 runs, the first dough that did so in the history of the district cricket. If you don’t know the name of this big cricket, it’s worth finding out. Because if there has ever been walking to the maximum, age is just a number, it was him.
This story is worth remembering, because India is the current obsession with Mrs. Dhoni tab and its lack of Rohit Sharma.
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Dhoni is in his 43 year and Rohit will be 38 by the end of this month. In the ongoing season of the Indian Premier League, both fight the enemy who saved none in the history of civilization. The current evidence is a mere reminder of what they were at their peak, and the prognosticator of what they could never be.
Should Mrs. Dhoni leave IPL? Absolutely not. Should Rohit Sharma say that Bye-Bye in cricket? Absolutely yes.
Why would you ask, the Commodus-up thumb for Dhoni and the thumb down for the other, younger, gladiator in the cricket arena? Tip: Amazing Grace.
Chronic diseases and age are the cruelest reminder of our mortality. Some call an aging process. It raises our desires, but removes our abilities. Over time, we turn into a cartoon of ourselves. Pale shadows of our brighter past. So the feared comparison with life on Sunset Boulevard.
There are only three familiar ways to deal with age and illness. Some, such as Sunil Gavascar, accept it with harbinger and dignity and pass from their past to another future. Some, such as the actor of the Suchitra Dream who has completely disappeared from public life, cannot accept their horrors and retreat to the dark corner where they continue to live in their past. And some continue fighting. Like Dhoni, Rohit Sharma and Portly Man, who broke the records-English legend WG Grace at the age of 48.
There is always only one winner of the struggle between mortality and people. However, the problem of this battle of the convict is that it can first turn a person into a subject of regret and later into contempt. When Harvey Dent in The Dark Knight said that you either die a hero or live long enough to become a villain, maybe he meant these unfortunate warriors.
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No one is immune to the laws of Harvey Dent. The biggest Indian versatile chapel Dev was on the way to become a villain of a joke when he crossed his welcome in finding his 432 goal-who then seemed like the Holy Grail of Bowling, but proved to be a smaller piece of bronze. Sachin Tendulkar managed to avoid Jeers and Boos when his career stretched out in search of 100. 100, just because he had a huge balance with good will. If the boring 100 against Bangladesh standing, the match did not save him, Tendulkar would be reminded of the famous speech that brought the curtain down to British Prime Minister Boris Johnson (and Neville Chamberlain): “You sat too long for what you did.
So where are Dhoni and Rohit Sharma on a hero scale? And what about WG Grace.
Athletes (and artists) continue to perform mainly for three reasons. One, they believe they are still competitive and have a lot to offer. Second, they are too selfish to give up what the game offers them money, records, fame, et al. And three, people don’t want them to go.
Rohit Sharma belongs to the first category
Just a year ago, Rohit Sharma was on top of his abilities. He scored a large, played a thrilling cricket like Marauding Buccaneer to terrorize the pitch. In the past year, however, there was a sharp decline in its abilities. Some might think that a year is too little time to judge the form of Batsman. But the year is not a year when it is 37 and 38-is EON. The difference is the same as running 100 meters in 10 seconds and 9.5 seconds.
The famous philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer said great that the noble and more perfect is, the later and slower it is to achieve maturity. He claimed that one rarely achieves the maturity of his reasoning and mental faculties barely before he was 28.
Mind Rohit Sharma and cricket intellect are still sharp, as mature, as capableuer expected from a noble man. But its launching is in a constant decline. In the test cricket, Rohit Sharma has never been counted among the giants among Indian standards. Also in a shorter format it gets too often, too quickly in an effort to drive them and to pull them arrogantly, which means that its ability to quickly see the ball quickly decreased.
A bad form could be blamed if something happened to his technique or intention. However, the problem is with its reflexes that slowed down. The villain is his coordination of his hands and eyes (blessings and Bane from Viendra Sehwag), which adapts to the requirements of the older age. All this is to define the features of human evolution and unfortunately irreversible.
When Rohit Sharma, a proud man he is, he will continue to exercise in networks, convinced that he can conquer these obstacles. Once in a while, it may, but will require more and more and harder work with reducing return.
When the body runs backwards, no one wins the race and the mind exports it forward. This internal conflict only leads to frustration before the acceptance is resolved. That is why Rohit Sharma should retire while he is still a hero for himself and cricket fans.
However, Dhoni’s case is different. And it has very little to do with cricket
Let’s go back to WG Grace, probably the biggest English cricket. After breaking many records at the age of 48, Grace continued the game at the age of 50 (and even later), because the view of him filled the stadiums. In the matches he played, the cash register always had “sold out” signs and ticket prices doubled. While he played, Grace was not just cricket, it was a social and cricket movement.
This burden of expectation miraculously raised their game to another level, almost as if the fans showed their success with the desire to see him on and on.
Dhoni is in a similar stage in cricket history. Fans fill the stadiums to see it (further warnings of analogy), as well as tourists go to Safari jungle to watch lions and tigers. The main event is his arrival, as well as observing the tiger, on the fold. He is preceded by silence and hysteria follows. In every iPL match it is Paisa-Vasool, whistle-point moment.
Unlike Rohit Sharma, Dhoni has the advantage of having another skill that still makes him valuable for his franchise. He was and is still a great goal. Until their arrival on the scene, most goalies played because of India because of their primary skill. Their launch, almost average, was a bonus. (Syed Kirmani, breeder in the 1983 campaign, detonated to number 9 and 10). The goal of the goal itself makes Dhoni eligible for selection.
Amitabha Bachchan at his peak was said that his fans first watched his films to celebrate their entry, the other who saw his performance and for the third time for the film.
IPL, unlike the international cricket and as an Indian cinema, is more of a fun and less about the result. It is the cleanest form of cricket, because most fans are non-Partizan, do not think about the result and are there just to see their favorite stars in action. Dhoni is the ruling king of this war without soldiers and borders. For a long time he can live for applause to die alone.
Still not convinced? Here is the last argument
The fate of every spectacle will eventually decide with selfish interests. In the case of IPL fans want fun, players want applause, glory and money and franchises want profits and prestige.
Matches with Chennai Super Kings are still one of the most watched in IPL. But what is CSK without Dhoni? (And what are the Royal Challengers without a virat kohli?) Unlike some other franchises, CSK is built on the cult of Dhoni, not 11 players. And as soon as it disappears, CSK would only become another team like Rajasthan Royals (Panjab, Gujarat, Delhi), who exist only because of playing other big four.
So Dhoni should continue and bring the burden of fans, cricket and his own franchises. Who knows, like WG Grace, this burden of expectations can one day become a self -realization prophecy.
Sandipan Sharma, our guest author, likes to write about cricket, cinema, music and politics. They believe they are connected.
Published:
Rishabh beniwal
Published on:
3rd April 2025
