From being pin-up boys Pietersen and Dhoni are now ambassadors of the game. Dhoni and Pietersen were simply destined to become leaders.
RAJKOT: Pictures of Kevin Pietersen’s hairstyle are no longer splashed all over the tabloids. Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s batting makes more news these days than the location of the hairstylist he goes to in suburban Mumbai.
Pietersen wouldn’t be caught dead in that ‘shunk’ hair-do he once sported. Dhoni’s long-locks, once a rage, have gone out of fashion ever since he adopted a classy and understated style.
Leading a side can be a hair-raising experience if one is not cut out for the job, but MSD and KP make it out to be a walk in the park.
From being pin-up boys Pietersen and Dhoni are now ambassadors of the game. Dhoni and Pietersen were simply destined to become leaders.
Sober haircuts, we would like to believe, don’t contribute towards making better captains. So what has made Dhoni and Pietersen click so far?
Pietersen believes it all has got to do with the freshness he has brought into the team. Dhoni too is like breath of fresh air. Under them, their teams have prospered.
Both have shown the maturity to tweak their game to suit the demands of captaincy. Pietersen plays the switch shot, but only after he is sure that the chances of pulling it off are far greater than failure.
Dhoni has never shied away from experimenting; be it the army camouflage-inspired gloves, field settings and shot selection. He gets a kick out of catching the opposition off-guard but never one to trigger premature celebrations.
Both are smooth operators who believe in entertaining with minimal fuss and maximum effect. They inspire confidence in the dressing room and it shows when they lead the team out. On the eve of the first ODI at Rajkot, Pietersen played down comparisons between himself and Dhoni. “It’s a team sport and it can’t be seen as a battle between two individuals. I guess there are some similarities between us,” Pietersen said.
The England skipper also liked what he saw of his Indian counterpart. “Dhoni is special player who remains cool under any circumstance,” he said.
Dhoni thanked KP for the words of encouragement. On the field though there will be no quarter given or asked for. Dhoni knows that though England are underdogs, under Pietersen they have found a new sense of purpose.
Dhoni also doesn’t want to read too much into England’s huge loss in their second warm-up game at the Brabourne Stadium. “It was a practice game. You try everything and take a few risks. Nothing should be concluded from it.”
Derek Pringle, the former England fast bowler now in India as a correspondent for a leading British paper believes that both Dhoni and Pietersen stand-out for their confidence. “They both inject energy into the team and both of them are hard-working captains,” Pringle said.
However, he was quick to add: “Pietersen is not as flamboyant off the field as he is on the field.” Dhoni loves his fast bikes. Which of these fine young men are quick to act in the crunch could well decide who comes away the victor in this series.
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