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Dubai: Mahendra Singh Dhoni dared to tell the Board of Cricket in India (BCCI) officials that he was tired and wanted a break. He thus opted out of the three-Test tour of Sri Lanka, set to commence on July 23.
No Indian cricketer has so far had the guts to take such a bold step.
Although in the past, many cricketers have pointed out that they are playing too much cricket, none dared to take a break.
Probably, it is this very quality in him that has helped him emerge a successful captain and a fearless batsman.
Dhoni is fully justified in his decision because he tops the list among international cricketers who have played maximum international matches.
The BCCI officials were not too pleased when Dhoni hit out at the Asia Cup schedule and said that there was too much of cricket.
Rajeev Shukla, vice-president of the BCCI, hit back saying that whoever felt that he was playing excess cricket could rest. Little did he realise that Dhoni would do just that.
Speaking to Gulf News during the International Cricket Council (ICC) annual conference, Niranjan Shah, the secretary of the BCCI, was more diplomatic and said: "We will try and introduce a rotation policy whereby top cricketers will get enough rest."
How did Dhoni muster this courage to pull out of a series?
Top earner
In the past, top cricketers never stopped playing because their annual earnings depended on the number of matches they played; but today cricketers are given an annual retainer fee.
Moreover, according to a recent study, Dhoni has also overtaken Sachin Tendulkar as the top earner among all Indian sportspersons.
By the end of this year, Dhoni is expected to earn Rs 500 million (Dh 43.1 million) from sponsorships as well as from BCCI for playing international matches and the Indian Premier League. Tendulkar may come only close to Rs 350 million (Dh 30.17m).
India has played the maximum international matches and Dhoni, who turned 27 on Monday, a day after his team lost to Sri Lanka in the final of the Asia Cup, has realised that he needs to guard against burn out.
The strain of keeping wickets together with shouldering the burden of India's batting as well as leading the team is something no Indian cricketer has ever done before.
So, very wisely, Dhoni has opted to be a long distance runner rather than fall victim to the demands of modern day cricket.
Tendulkar back for series
Mumbai: Leading India batsman Sachin Tendulkar will return from injury in the three-test series against Sri Lanka.
Tendulkar has been out of international cricket since he suffered a groin problem in the first home test against South Africa in March.
India yesterday named 30 probables for the ICC Champions Trophy one-day tournament in September:
Squad: Anil Kumble (captain), Virender Sehwag, Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar, Saurav Ganguly, Vangipurappu Laxman, Gautam Gambhir, Harbhajan Singh, Ishant Sharma, Zaheer Khan, Rudra Pratap Singh, Munaf Patel, Rohit Sharma, Dinesh Karthik, Pragyan Ojha, Parthiv Patel.
India's 30-man squad: Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir, Yuvraj Singh, Sachin Tendulkar, Zaheer Khan, Rohit Sharma, Harbhajan Singh, Robin Uthappa, Suresh Raina, Piyush Chawla, Rudra Pratap Singh, Irfan Pathan, Ishant Sharma, Praveen Kumar, Manpreet Gony, Pragyan Ojha, Parthiv Patel, Dinesh Karthik, Subramaniam Badrinath, Mohammad Kaif, Manoj Tiwary, Abhishek Nayar, Pankaj Singh, Murali Kartik, Virat Kohli, Ravindra Jadeja, Ajinkya Rahane, Yousuf Pathan, Shanthakumaran Sreesanth.
- Reuters
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