Dhoni retires: Dubai's cricket connoisseur, veteran UAE umpire salute Indian legend

Dubai - Dhoni's greatest quality, according to Bhatia, was his man-management skills

Shyam Bhatia, whose passion for the game gave birth to a beautiful cricket museum in Dubai, doffed his hat to MS Dhoni after the former Indian captain announced his international retirement on Sunday.
"He was the best captain of India in recent years. He is the only captain who has won the T20 World Cup, the Champions Trophy and the 50 overs World Cup. No other captain in the world has done that," Bhatia told Khaleej Times on Sunday.
Bhatia, whose cricket museum has drawn some of the most iconic names, then remembered the day he met Dhoni in India.
"He is so humble, you know. I met him when I was launching my book in Rajkot, the whole Indian team was there. Also the president of the Saurashtra Cricket Association and Niranjan Shah, the former BCCI secretary, were there too. Dhoni was the captain and Sehwag the vice-captain," Bhatia remembered.
Dhoni's greatest quality, according to Bhatia, was his man-management skills.
"You know, the most important thing when he was made the captain was that he had to manage some of the biggest names. Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid, VVS Laxman were playing under him. He showed at a young age that he could handle those guys," Bhatia said.  
Bhatia then picked his favourite Dhoni moments.
"Who could ever forget the last over in the 2007 T20 World Cup final against Pakistan? He gave the ball to a non-regular player like Joginder Sharma to bowl that final over. This was Dhoni! He then surprised everybody by going out to bat at number five in the 2011 World Cup final. This was Dhoni, you know," Bhatia said.
"Also, Virat (Kohli) has said, 'till the time Dhoni plays, he is my captain'. I mean Virat could not have paid a bigger compliment to him. He was just an amazing captain and a great human being."
Meanwhile, veteran UAE-based Pakistani umpire Tariq Butt said Dhoni's retirement was a sad day for Indian cricket.

Veteran UAE umpire Tariq Butt with MS Dhoni. (Supplied photo) 
"A great chapter has come to an end. A great player and a great human being, I remember meeting him and even sharing food with him. I had long chats with him about cricket. He really understood the game very well. His retirement is a kind of setback for Indian cricket," Butt told Khaleej Times.
"He had a great career. You know, he earned his place among the biggest legends of the game. But unfortunately, all great players have to retire one day. From Sunil Gavaskar to Zaheer Abbas and Sachin Tendulkar, you know, no one could go on forever. But the good thing is Dhoni has left international cricket with some great memories!"  
rituraj@khaleejtimes.com