After all the rumours that have been floating around for a some time during the Asia Cup, it seems Dhoni might finally decide to take a break from cricket. There are very strong signs that he’s going to ask not to be selected for the upcoming SL tour. We all know the kind of intense scheduling that the India team has been put through for the last one year. And Dhoni being the captain of the one day side and a key member of the Test team as well has handled a remarkable workload both mentally and physically. Add to that the burden of leading the Chennai Super Kings to the final of the IPL. It’s not the physical side that has taken a toll on Dhoni. In the last one year there have hardly been any matches where he has been unfit. Nor has he played with injury and thus undermining his own performance. He has shown remarkable fitness levels- hallmarks of a truly professional sportsman. With the kind of commitment and performance that he has shown I don’t think I’ll be alone in saying that he really deserves a break. Besides cricket isn’t such an easy game mentally. The off-field pressures of cricket in India are massive and to handle it all takes an almost saint-like patience.

Yeah I know there will be people who say that for the money he earns he has to work for it. But then money matters only so much. Beyond all that money and fame he is still a normal guy like you and me. So he would obviously like to do some normal things like spending some time with his family or taking a bit of rest. Noone likes to work like slave. Yes he does earn money- and a lot of money at that- but what do you do with so much money when you don’t even have time to spend it. This is a typical reaction of a modern day cricketer. You cannot imagine a Sachin Tendulkar or a Kapil Dev in the peak of their careers asking for a break from cricket. In those days playing for your country was considered with such pride. But the lives of today’s cricketers are a far cry from those of their predecessors. Besides they didn’t have the kind of gruelling schedules and ad-shoots that present day players have to deal with. With the amount of money being pumped into cricket with phenomena like the IPL we shouldn’t be too surprised if many more players(not just Indian) do this from now on.

If Dhoni does come out and asks for to be rested for the SL Tour, then it’ll be interesting to see the BCCI’s reaction on that. It was only weeks back that BCCI retaliated to Dhoni’s complaint on scheduling by stating that any player who wants a rest can ask for it. So it is only fair that they grant him what he wants. We cricket fans will obviously miss our pulsating player for a while but it is only so that he would remain that same pulsating player for a long long time to come.