In Outlook this week, our cover story talks about the evergreen Mahendra Singh Dhoni. The pillar Dhoni became through sheer talent for the Indian cricket team still stands strong. Speculations of his retirement birthed prematurely. But it’s time for a realistic analysis. Apart from this, we bring you weekly dose of election updates from across the country. Also, don’t forget to read Outlook’s manual of updates on cool summer holiday destinations in India.
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00:00 Hello and welcome to Outlook this week. As always, full of in-depth analysis, sharp stories,
00:05 clearly focused articles. But this week, we are taking a break from the bang and bluster
00:12 of the elections, the ongoing elections. And we have come out with a cover story on MS,
00:17 the one and only MS Dhoni. With me are sports editor Kaizer Muhammad Ali and Shweti Banerjee,
00:24 who is our travel expert.
00:26 So to start with you, Kaizer, you know, so why Dhoni at this point? I mean, what was
00:32 your intention of doing him at this point?
00:35 One of the reasons was one of the few reasons was that this is going to be his fourth straight
00:40 50 over World Cup. And besides that, he has played three Champions Trophy tournaments
00:45 and six T20 World Cups. So six T20 World Cups and all as captain, India captain. So that
00:53 is something unique. Nobody has done that in the history of cricket, although Champions
00:59 Trophy started very late in 1998 only. And the World Cup is 50 over World Cup started
01:04 in 1975. Still, he is the most prolific captain in terms of and he has led the national team,
01:15 any national team. He holds the world record of captaining in most number of matches across
01:21 formats, all three formats. So that is one thing. And he may establish some records again
01:27 in the World Cup in England.
01:28 And of course, you know, we are calling it the last hurrah, but that is in the context
01:32 of the coming World Cup. I mean, he may, of course, go on to play for a long time after
01:35 that. Right. I mean, this is in the context of the 50 over World Cup. Right. Because he
01:40 is 37 now. Yeah. And he'll be 41 by the time the next World Cup comes for 50 over World
01:46 Cup. So that is why.
01:48 You know, what is the legacy that Dhoni will leave behind when he eventually retires? You
01:53 know, there seems to be a sort of a pre-Dhoni and a post-Dhoni era in Indian cricket.
01:59 He's a very different kind of captain, especially in the shorter formats. He's been very aggressive
02:04 and he thinks on his feet and comes up with strange, like his batting, which is very,
02:12 which is very ungainly, I would say. But still, he's a different captain. He's not aggressive
02:19 as Virat Kohli, but he has a very sharp mind. I went to Ranchi for this story, his hometown.
02:28 And there, everybody said that I met his school games teacher and his friends and teammates
02:35 who had played him at the school level, where he established one of the double century,
02:43 the first double century when he was in class 11 or so, I think. And everybody said he had
02:48 a very sharp mind, even in school. So, I mean, he was scheming, planning, but he was very
02:53 quiet and calm even then. So he'll be leaving a huge legacy behind.
02:59 You mentioned his aggression in the one day format. Is there a difference in his captaincy
03:04 when it comes to test cricket? This is what has been said that, and it's
03:11 in one of the columns also that Lawrence Booth has written for this issue. So he would, at
03:19 times it would appear that he would let the things drift and he would be supposedly shorn
03:26 of ideas and he wouldn't know. But in 50 over and T20 formats, he was a very different
03:34 captain. But the captaincy record for the tests is
03:37 also enviable, isn't it? Yes, it is. It's quite good. It's there.
03:45 The records are there. And he has played 90 test matches and most of them he has led in
03:50 60, I think, and 127. I'm talking about test cricket. And he is 127, Kohli has 126. So
03:59 he is on his heels, but at his heels. But he has won lots of tournaments.
04:07 And even in the shortest format, the T20 format, it seems the IPL, which is going on just now,
04:12 CSK is right on top and the games that he doesn't play, they lose.
04:17 Yesterday, he didn't play. So that adaptability that he brings from long
04:25 format to now T20, so that's again, I mean, an amazing feat.
04:30 Because he was an automatic starter in the India XI across formats. So test cricket,
04:36 T20, one day cricket, and he was captain also in all three formats. So obviously, he had
04:42 to adapt and he did it very well, like Kohli is doing now.
04:46 And what after cricket, what do you think? I mean, I'm sure he has many options. He's
04:52 got his businesses on already. What would be his, I mean, he's got such a long life
04:59 ahead. What do you think? How will he be remembered later after cricket?
05:05 Like you said, rightly, he has so many options now. I mean, he's very fond of bikes, more
05:12 than four wheelers. So he might do something that he owns a biking team, which competes
05:19 at certain levels. So you never know. I mean, he might expand his passion in the racing
05:28 field. You never know. And that could be one. He could go into politics also, you never
05:34 know. Really?
05:35 Yeah, it's possible. I mean, because when I went to Ranchi, they were, they were...
05:40 He'll win in Ranchi. That's for sure. And in Ranchi, people were saying that they
05:45 would like him to come into politics. They said that. Yeah.
05:49 That's interesting. Because he wants to set things right. Not
05:53 everything is right in Ranchi or the rest of the country. So in cricket, so he would
05:58 probably, some people want him to come into the cricket administration and then set things
06:05 right. Well, so that would be his, you know, if he
06:08 does so another great innings, you know, in politics, that should be interesting to look
06:12 at how he performs there. That will be interesting.
06:15 Thanks very much. You know, the other, as you know, the other big package that we have
06:20 in this issue is, you know, as summers, summer holidays are just around the corner, it's
06:24 a travel package. And here we have Shweti, who has this most envious job of going to
06:30 the most offbeat, faraway places while we, you know, sweat it out here in our cubicles
06:35 and cabins. So Shweti, tell us a little bit about the package, that the way you curated
06:42 it. So it seems there is something for everyone in it. So what was I mean, how did you go
06:47 about this? So that was the idea. Of course, summer has
06:50 always been the time that a lot of us travel because schools shut and you know, everybody's
06:55 looking to escape the heat in most of India. But as we go along, you know, life has become
07:02 difficult and people, most of us have shorter holidays, but we want deeper, better experiences.
07:09 So it's, you know, everybody wants that something extra. So we decided to divide, you know,
07:16 all the ideas under three, you know, large headers. We wanted some holidays for families.
07:23 Because after all it is about school. It is.
07:27 You know, everybody's, there are lots of places that you can lounge around, do a lot more
07:33 than just go to a hotel and, you know, do two laps in the pool. So we've tried to document
07:39 some of that. We've done a separate section just for friends, because many, many, many
07:45 people are now traveling with their friends. And it's not just the younger lot. It's people
07:50 across age groups who are just taking off with their friends to the hills or wherever,
07:55 you know, and solo travel, which is something that I think we've been underestimating for
08:00 a while, but suddenly it's taken off in a big way. Again, it's, it cuts across age barriers.
08:07 And there are lots of interesting things that are now on offer, things that we hadn't thought
08:11 about before. And then finally, there's a small segment, which is for the fearless, as we've
08:18 called them, but for people who are, you know, open to ideas, which are a little bit out,
08:24 I mean, they're really out of the box.
08:26 So, you know, as you would, would there be instances when you said, you know, friends
08:29 and, you know, solo, say, within a family, you know, a husband is going somewhere, the
08:35 children are going somewhere else, a wife, is there, do you think that's happening in
08:38 India?
08:39 That's happening, of course, it is, it is indeed. I mean, a lot of my friends who may
08:44 have kids are going off with their friends to, you know, for trips or I, you know, I'm
08:50 connected to the birding community in Delhi, especially, I find that a lot of them, women
08:55 and men, and, you know, they just take off alone, just for birding trips. So, you know,
09:01 the children...
09:02 So it depends on whose interest lies where.
09:04 Yeah. And, you know, if you, if we've had, we've put in, you know, options for all budgets
09:10 as well, which I think is very important, because there are people who are willing to
09:16 spend that extra, you know, rupee for a better experience. But I think even for the, even
09:23 for those who don't have deep pockets, there are fantastic holidays now, more than there
09:28 ever were, thanks to the internet.
09:30 We know a couple of, would you like to tell our readers a couple of, you know, very stand
09:34 out or, you know, sort of really out of the way, you know, and are these most of the places
09:38 you've been yourself?
09:39 Yes.
09:40 Wow, that is something.
09:42 Not all, but yeah, most of them and they're all friends.
09:45 So what would be a couple of, say, very unusual or very standout kind of things which is there
09:49 in the package?
09:50 I mean, the one thing that sort of, there are several actually, I mean, it would be
09:55 unfair to pick.
09:56 Sure, yeah. But I meant more, you know, unusual as in like, apparently you can be a monk for
10:01 a while in a monastery.
10:03 Yes, you can be a monk for a while, you can be part of an ultra marathon crew. But I mean,
10:09 closer, if that's too much for you, if you just want to go meet, you know, girls who
10:15 play polo in Manipur, I mean, it's a beautiful experience to just watch them and this is
10:20 May and Lai Haroba is a fantastic festival in the Northeast.
10:25 So Manipur is, you know, alive at this time of the year.
10:27 And if you just go and meet these girls who ride these, you know, indigenous ponies there,
10:33 or you go on a trip with the Global Himalayan Expedition, which is mentioned here, they,
10:38 you know, they electrify villages in Ladakh.
10:41 And you can be part of that.
10:42 You can actually contribute to that.
10:44 So interesting.
10:45 Yeah, or go to a place in Wayanad where they've rewilded an entire plantation. It would have
10:52 literally let go to seed as we've said.
10:55 Yeah.
10:56 So all that is there here in this much more details. Of course, she's just talking about
10:59 a few that are, you know, in all, I don't know, about more than 25 or?
11:03 Nearly 40.
11:04 Oh, wow. That's so much to read in this issue then. Thank you very much, Kehza. Thank you
11:09 very much, Shoyati.
11:10 Thank you.
11:11 Thank you very much.
11:11 Thank you.