It’s all about money, Dhoni!

There’s been a lot of praise for Mahindra Singh Dhoni who opted to rest and make himself unavailable for the Sri Lankan tour.

Many ex-professionals and the press have praised Dhoni – for his confidence. Here is a guy who wanted rest and took it. He was supremely confident of his place in the team that he knew he would get back into the team when he wanted to. There were others who said Dhoni has the Indian team’s pride at heart. Which is why when he was not 100% fit he rather chose to rest than hide it and play at half his strength.

Well done, Dhoni! You are the new face of the emerging Indian generation.

Now, hang on for a minute. This Sri Lankan tour was scheduled long ago. Even before Dhoni knew he had to travel to Australia and play for a couple of months. Even before Dhoni knew he had to travel to Bangladesh to play in the Kitply tournament. Even before Dhoni knew he had to go and play in Pakistan in the Asia Cup. And even before he knew he had to play for Chennai Super Kings in the IPL 20-20.

If Dhoni wore his country’s pride on his sleeve and would never do anything to let his country down, shouldn’t he have opted out of the 20-20? Shouldn’t he have been thinking: “Hey, I have a long and arduous schedule ahead. My country needs me. I would have to be at my best every time I played for the country. So, let me opt out of this stupid IPL 20-20 nonsense. It’s a local tournament anyway. The country needs me more than Chennai does.”

If he were to think that way he would have opted out of the IPL 20-20. Not from the Sri Lankan tour.

He didn’t because the $1 million plus he would be getting from Chennai Super Kings lured him. As far as the Sri Lankan tour was concerned, he would be getting his money anyway thanks to his annual contract with BCCI. There was nothing for him to lose.

So, he took the simpler way out: Get the money. Take some rest. Maybe, use the time productively to do a few more ads.

Let him opt out whenever he feels so. It’s his prerogative. But let the cricket fans realize it’s not about country, pride and all that old-fashioned jazz.

It’s all about money, honey!