Dhoni Vs Tendulkar

[Holysmoke]

In his school days Dhoni was called Tendulkar. I suppose many people with proficiency in cricket would be called Tendulkar across many schools in India. But who will be called a ‘Dhoni’ in school these days? One who has long hair? Or the captain? Or one who smacks the bowler? Or will it have nothing to do with cricket? This is precisely the difference between Dhoni’s and Tendulkar’s icon status. Tendulkar , like his batting, is a technically correct icon. He is best (arguably) at his craft - reflects our ambition of becoming globally competitive. He dominates the bowlers, catering to our sense of escapist aggression. The same reason we loved Amitabh Bachhan bashing up the villains. On top of that Tendulkar carefully wears his middle class values on his sleeves while managing media image. And of course we idolise stories of middle class boys making it big. But if you try to deconstruct Dhoni in a similar manner it may not add up. Is he the world’s best wicketkeeper-batsman? Not by a long shot. He is no Gilchrist. Is the representative of the new-found obsession of India - the small town boy? Not really. He sports a Swapna Bhavnani designer hairstyle, he drives fast bikes - his body language is uber cool urban. Dhoni has become big because he can make the miracle happen - he can script an Indian victory. And in this department he has delivered consistently. Tendulkar is an iconic individual - Dhoni is an iconic leader. Tendulkar renounced captaincy because he found it was stifling individual brilliance. Captaincy got Dhoni’s individual brilliance out. Tendulkar is an individual hero - the country celebrates his personal milestones - 40th century, 12000 runs, breaking Bradman’s record. So much so that after every personal milestone Tendulkar has to say that personal milestones don’t matter - he plays for India’s victory. But Dhoni’s great moments are always intrinsically linked to India’s winning. His record of remaining unbeaten when India chased to win is now legendary. In fact, he has many times curbed his individual aggressive style to make the victory possible. If Tendulkar represented our aspiration, Dhoni represents our confidence. A collective confidence, which has seen India at par with the rest of the world. Dhoni’s biggest contribution to our culture is the swagger. The swagger to comfortably face up to the aussies in their den, the swagger to carry himself off comfortably on the fashion ramp. And this swagger has a life beyond cricket. It represents our deepest desire to remain unphased and confident - ‘we are like that only’. Tendulkar has given us enough chances to feel great about him. Dhoni has possibly given us more opportunities to feel great about ourselves. http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/articleshow/4256250.cms

[DomainK]

After reading the title, I had entered the thread in a foul mood. But its not so bad.:D

[Dravid]

dhoni's batting style looks so bad, but somehow he makes runs..lol maybe 10 years from now, ppl will say, dwag you bat like dhoni, not now :D

[philcric]

Dhoni is one of the ugliest top 7 batsmen i've seen. But I don't care as long as he makes runs. He's the best WK-batsman India has produced in the last 25 years atleast.

[Dirty_South]

who cares if he plays ugly shots or beautiful shots,look at his average :yikes:

[fineleg]

Dhoni must be compared with Chanderpaul (in Tests atleast Crab has an excellent avg and a good avg in ODIs given he has played 241 odis) Style: both ugly :giggle: (well Crab plays some great strokes - will give that to him despite the stance)

[graphic23]

I don't think his stance or his play is ugly - he's certainly not Laxman (heck, I can't even say that about Sachin) - but he's not very bad.

[Holysmoke]

I actually like dhoni's batting. Would rather watch dhoni bat than Hussey. Or Mark Richardson. Or maybe even Dravid.

[Online]

Nice read Thx for sharing

[satishg]

excellent article..sums up our emotions pretty well :two_thumbs_up:

[flamy]

:isalute: And yes, Dhoni has brought that swagger. So quintessentially Gen X.

[Master Blaster]

I'm gonna name my son Dhoni and ima kick him everytime he drops a catch.

[veer]

Tendulkar has given us enough chances to feel great about him. Dhoni has possibly given us more opportunities to feel great about ourselves. http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/articleshow/4256250.cms

that is very well put... ourselves and teams...

[fineleg]

I'm gonna name my son Dhoni and ima kick him everytime he drops a catch.

:cantstop:

[King]

Last person I'd like to watch bat is Dhoni. Terrible to watch. That said he's been the best ever WK-Batsman for India and to boot he's been a winning captain. He never had flair but boy can he hit the ball well? Of late he plays with lot of caution but he scores so can't complain. I think at this moment we can safely say he's "Bevan" for India.

[suraj]

I'm gonna name my son Dhoni and ima kick him everytime he drops a catch.

:hysterical::hysterical::hysterical::hysterical::hysterical::hysterical: :hysterical::hysterical::hysterical::hysterical::hysterical::hysterical:

[Guest Hiten.]

I do not care how soothing players' batting stance or technique is as long as he scores. KP too is not a very attractive player to watch because he too is unorthodox.

[riya]

No comparison .Tendulkar is such a beauty to watch in full flow. That class,style and versatile shots.Immaculate . Dhoni,he is effective,but such ugly shots.But he is funny to watch.

[Dravid]

I do not care how soothing players' batting stance or technique is as long as he scores. KP too is not a very attractive player to watch because he too is unorthodox.

wtf? KP is brillaint to watch.. the way he comes down the track and whips the off side ball through mid wicket.. no comparison B->

[Anakin]

No comparison .Tendulkar is such a beauty to watch in full flow. That class,style and versatile shots.Immaculate . Dhoni,he is effective,but such ugly shots.But he is funny to watch.

But that's not really the difference between them. Anyways, the heading of this is quite misleading :haha: