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Do Different Joy Bhattacharjya, Amit Sinha

Published : Saturday, 24 September, 2022 at 12:00 AM  Count : 353

Decoding M.S. Dhoni, the former India cricket captain who gives away little about himselfďż˝
Do Different Joy Bhattacharjya, Amit Sinha

Do Different Joy Bhattacharjya, Amit Sinha


Books get written about him, his biopic flourished at the box office and yet M.S. Dhoni remains an elusive personality with a larger-than-life aura. The temptation to peel away those layers he refuses to reveal continues to lure a vast multitude, be it his fans or the hard-wired journalist.
It is this template that the latest book in the Dhoni universe aspires to follow.  Do Different with a sub-clause 'The Untold Dhoni' by Joy Bhattacharjya and Amit Sinha unabashedly puts the subject right in the middle with diverse perspectives tailing the former cricketer. The authors pen their thoughts while also roping in other experts to throw light on a man who would rather hoist sixes nonchalantly before vanishing into the night on his superbike.

Collective gaze
If Bharat Sundaresan's  The Dhoni Touch was all about a persistent cricket writer's desire to paint a portrait of India's former captain, right from his Ranchi days to the eventual glorious run in international cricket, Bhattacharjya and Sinha lean on the collective gaze, theirs and others like cricketer Deep Dasgupta or sports writer Sharda Ugra.
Readers of a certain vintage would remember the Dummies series books, which were accessible explainers cutting down jargon and offering a friendly take on diverse subjects. This latest tome is like a Dhoni for Dummies effort, offering multiple ideas and revelations, keeping the man from Jharkhand under the lens with the limelight firmly on.
"When our long lives come to an end one day, the  shayari of this  pal do pal ka shayar will remain an indelible part of our good happy (sic) memories that will leave with us. That's how you gauge the impact of sportsmen like Dhoni in the eventual analysis," Sinha writes in a book that tries to combine the unflinching affection of a fan and the perceived neutrality of the distant expert.
Split into five parts, Do Different first gives us match-reports entirely focused on Dhoni. It then allows the outsiders to have their say and then again reverts to the authors digging out more nuggets that defined Dhoni on the field - be it batting, wicket-keeping or captaincy. And then you have Dhoni's quotes dipped in dry-wit, lines from others and finally statistics attempting to distil a mysterious cricketer into a cold set of staggering numbers.
While the authors do their best to dissect their subject, whose only access through the public domain are mandatory press conferences or the rare corporate event, Sharda delivers a truism: "A more complete portrait of M.S. Dhoni, cricketer extraordinaire, can only emerge, however, if he tells us what he truthfully can in a medium he has shown little trust in - words, in long-form."
This is a book that milks the nostalgia around Dhoni. For die-hard fans, there is enough to relive, be it his winning hits, the funky hairstyles and those rare displays of emotions in an otherwise impassive face. And for those who need much more than the obvious, there are insights from fellow players, brand managers, journalists and academics.
Open any chapter depending on your Dhoni-quest and you could find some answers about the reticent legend. Meanwhile, the cricketing star would rather offer glimpses through the rare Instagram post while perhaps retiring for the night after having a glass of milk.

Courtesy: THE HINDU













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