By Srian OBEYESEKERE

Success rides with Mahendra Singh Dhoni like a glint of gold ever since the Indian ODI captain took over the captaincy reins of a flagging Indian one-day team in 2007. In fact the 26-year old from Ranchi, Bihar has led from the front in a run that has brought a silver lining to a once cloudy Indian side which today has reversed tables since its 2007 World Cup failure to hog the limelight as 'the' team to watch.

Significantly, India's resounding 2-nil success in shaving off the glamour off the once invincible Australians in bringing Ricky Ponting's men down their pedestal is the marked ascension of Indian cricket riding on a crestwave of another success of shifting the power base of cricket to Asia through its barn storming Twenty-20 IPL concept. To Dhoni's armoury is the credit of skippering India to both facile Test wins on home soil in regaining the Border-Gavaskar Trophy.

If that sunshine was another insight Dhoni has given the rest of the cricket world of his virtues as perhaps 'the' most astute captain around spiced with his belligerent or defensive batting as the situation demands, his previous ODI conquest also in bringing down the world champions Australia 2-0 in the lions den in a triangular series last year is strong reading devoid of flash in the pan stuff.

If carrying the elusive mantle has apparently not weighed heavily on Dhoni unlike it invariably happens with most captains thrust with the job, what stamps out the man is for his flamboyance in the middle whether behind the stumps, bat in hand or marshalling his men.

Indeed, Dhoni's crowning moment in a short period was his recent success in Sri Lanka over whom he led India to a historic 3-2 series triumph in 25 years; a feat that had eluded many Indian teams that toured this country.

That achievement was a tremendous one in insulating India from the depths of a lost 1-2 Test series defeat to Mahela Jayawardene's Sri Lankans to a joyous one in the 5-match ODI series that followed considering the tremendous odds the Indians faced against a buoyed Sri Lanka. In this respect the retarding factors were two fold. For, Sri Lanka had a Trojan in its ranks - a new atom in Ajantha Mendis who had followed up his astonishing match winning feat of 6 for 13 against the Indians who were brought down in the Asia Cup final in Lahore, Pakistan not long ago by claiming a record 26 scalps in thrashing Anil Kumble's Test team in the home series. In the aftermath of that Asia cup humbling by the Sri Lankans defeat in the test series had virtually taken the morale out of the Indians despite winning the second Test match. Injury problems had loomed with two of their star players in Virender Sehwag and Ishan Sharma having to be packed off when Dhoni, who had missed the Test series, flew down to Sri Lanka to marshall the ODI team.

But still worse there was a bogey man in new boy Ajantha Mendis who was bugging the Indians to a point of doom ever since his astonishing 6-wicket haul in Lahore in his debut international appearance for Sri Lanka. Mendis had worked himself to a pitch in such a short time even eclipsing compatriot champion bowler Muttiah Muralidaran to rule the roost as the new phenomenon in international cricket. Mendis, an unknown hailing from the city of Moratuwa that also produced two illustrious batsmen in Duleep Mendis and Romesh Kaluwitharana, had come to be regarded as a mystery bowler who had time and time again bamboozeled the Indian top order that removing such spectacular batsmen like Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar and Sourav Ganguly.

That Dhoni came, saw and assessed and set out to conquer leading from the front must certainly stamp out the man as an exemplary captain at that level who has lived upto his laurels except for the hiccup in the Asia Cup.

What must go down as particularly striking about Dhoni is the fact that he reversed the humiliation of tasting defeat in the first ODI to reverse fortunes in the next three to take the series 3-2 that saw him earn the coveted 'Man of the Series' award which also fetched a gleaming limousine.

Above all, a notable characteristic in Dhoni is his simplicity as a captain who revels in situations in overcoming the odds with the aid of a virtual new look side which was further reduced to newcomers through the absence of Sehwag and Ishan Sharma for the concluded ODI series; an example to other captains considering the man's relatively little experience in the job having replaced long-time skipper Dravid in September 2007 who quit after the England tour.

While also having the distinction of leading his country to victory in a Test match over South Africa before Kumble was given that mantle, Dhoni's fine run includes series triumphs over archrivals Pakistan both at home and away and also leading India to the 20/Twenty World Cup title last year.

Dhoni rode early promise as an 'A' team player since 2004 with some stinging performances that made him swashbuckling both with the bat and gloves when in 2004 he became a serious contender for the national team with two clinical centuries against Pakistan in a triangular tournament in Keny. Since then, known as a clinical destroyer of bowling attacks Dhoni owes his success to possibly two factors; of not being unduly bothered by whatever the opposition is - like how the recipe he gave his men not to be put down after the first ODI defeat to Sri Lanka and to relax and do their basics right to secondly learning to curb his natural aggressive nature of batting to suit the situation where the man has conspicuously put his head down and plodded when the going was bad.