Modern sport, with its emphasis on specialised roles, whether on the field or off it, is a far cry from the days when baseball teams used to have a player in the role of what we would today recognise as that of a manager/coach. The only remaining vestige of that is the fact that non-playing baseball managers to date wear the team uniform, unlike other sports – football, basketball – where they usually don suits. Every major sport over the years has seen instances of an active player also doubling up as the manager.
NBA legend Bill Russell was player-coach at the Boston Celtics between 1966-69. One of the well-known instances from football remains when Kenny Dalglish was appointed player-manager at Liverpool FC in 1985. That season, ‘King’ Kenny led the English football club to a league double. Another English club, Chelsea, made it almost a tradition in the mid-1990s with a succession of player-managers, Ruud Gullit and Gianluca Vialli the most memorable among them. As recently as the start of the 2019-20 season, former Manchester City player Vincent Kompany was appointed the player-manager at Belgian club Anderlecht.
The trend seems to be undergoing a revival of sorts as players stay match fit for longer, putting themselves in a unique position. They are not a liability as an active player because they still bring world-class skills to the game, while at the same time, they also bring a repository of sporting wisdom that has been acquired and honed over an illustrious playing career. It is one thing when former players become coaches and managers; it is another when an active player wears both hats at once – the recency of their experience and wisdom cannot be simply ignored or waved away as being an insignificant factor. Which brings us to the curious case of cricket in general and MS Dhoni in particular. Cricketers’ Careers have always tended (with the exception perhaps of fast bowlers) to be longer than the typical sport, and the game itself has a lot of room for strategic input on the field.
Its stop-start nature and the need to strategise on an ongoing basis manifests itself in the mid-pitch player conferences we see with many teams and captains these days, plotting their next move or adjustment. In the Indian setup, MS Dhoni has featured as a one-man think tank who has been called on for advice even after he relinquished captaincy duties for India in the limited overs formats (where he remains an active player). From Rohit Sharma to Virat Kohli, Indian captains have publicly admitted to seeking counsel from MSD and acting on it. In football, you don’t see as many player-managers these days, not least because the sport has become more demanding and the elite leagues are ruthlessly result-oriented.
Cricket’s relative languid pace, and the abundance of matches where everything doesn’t depend on one outcome makes it fertile ground for trying this idea out. It is not exactly novel; in fact, there was an instance just last year when Shane Deitz, who was a wicketkeeper for South Australia, joined his adopted homeland of Vanuatu as player-coach for the World Cricket League (WCL). Deitz had been a coach for Vanuatu since 2014, but after an incredible recovery from a hip replacement, he decided to get back on the field, too. But Vanuatu plays in Division Four of the WCL, and there haven’t really been any major tryouts of this concept.
Could India potentially try it out with MS Dhoni in the limited-overs arena? It wouldn’t be the worst idea. Hear us out. Dhoni is retired from tests, of course, but technically remains active and available for selection in T20Is and was part of the Indian ODI team at the World Cup in England. Since then, he has taken a hiatus as he went to serve a stint with the territorial army and hasn’t been picked for India’s upcoming home series against South Africa. His status has become a matter of consternation and hand-wringing, primarily because the selectors seem unsure of what to do with Dhoni, the player, while not willing to jettison the wisdom Dhoni, the cricket sage, brings. Anil Kumble recently put it well when he said, “For the team’s sake, the selectors need to sit down [with Dhoni] and have a discussion around what the plans are because things must be communicated.” We recommend that Dhoni should be appointed player-manager.
Here are five reasons why:
1. Everyone seeks Dhoni’s counsel on the field: Whether it was Mohammed Shami who after his hattrick against Afghanistan at the World Cup said, “I had MS Dhoni's advice in my mind. He told me, 'World Cup hat-tricks are rare, just bowl a yorker. This is your chance.' That's what I did." or Kuldeep Yadav admitting that “[Dhoni] speaks only between overs if he thinks he needs to point out something”, Dhoni’s ability to read a game situation and pass on actionable advice to bowlers, fielders and even the batsman at the other end is something that remains sought after. It’s also the first thing that everyone says they will miss when the former India captain hangs up his boots.
2. Leadership lessons on the go: Much as tactical nous is critical to survive in the competitive world that is cricket, you also need avant-garde leadership skills. India’s current skipper, Virat Kohli, seems to realise that he needs to hone both of these skillsets and often is seen using Dhoni as a real-time sounding board for ideas as the match develops on the field. As Dhoni’s childhood coach, Keshab Ranjan Banerjee, pointed out in an interview before the World Cup, “"In terms of match-reading and forming strategies, Dhoni is still unparalleled. Even Kohli doesn't have that. So Kohli needs to take some advice. If Dhoni had not been part of the Indian team, there would be nobody to help him."
3. Dhoni the Pokémon: Over the years, not only has Dhoni added to his cricket skillset, but his ability to evolve multifaceted abilities makes him a Swiss Army Knife of a cricketer, the likes of whom we are unlikely to see on the field for a long while again. Given that he is still reasonably fit, being appointed player-manager allows him to bring insights at both a tactical (on-field) and a strategic (off the field) level. Sanjay Manjrekar had said about him earlier in the year that, “When he (Dhoni) came onto the scene, he was just an explosive batsman. He soon became a good wicketkeeper and eventually a good captain. Today, he is three-in-one.”
4. A funnel for cricketing knowledge: Dhoni himself remains an astute student of the game, a constant learner who absorbs cricketing knowledge like a sponge. During the World Cup, he was seen having a chat about his batting technique against spinners with coach Ravi Shastri after a disappointing outing against Afghanistan. His ability to funnel such cricket wisdom from diverse sources into the dressing room if he were in a playing and managing role simultaneously could be a valuable asset.
5. If there is a time to experiment, it is now: If India wants to be looked at as pioneers in this modern era of cricket, they need to take a few risks. For a team that is looking to push boundaries, in terms of management and leadership, the choices the selectors and the BCCI have made are often conservative and more to do with preserving the status quo. Appointing Dhoni in a pathbreaking role of player-manager, even if the player part of that role lasts only, say, a year, could be a good jumping off point to break out of that ennui. With the next ODI World Cup a while away, there isn’t a huge amount at stake, and as the limited-overs team seeks to rebuild its engine, you’d want the best engineer in the middle and in the dressing room. Those two just happen to be, in our assessment, the same person – MS Dhoni.
