Cricket lovers burst crackers near Albert Ekka Chowk in Ranchi after India defeated Australia. Picture by Hardeep Singh

March 4: Team India ODI captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni has proved the Samson myth wrong.

According to Greek mythology, Samson lost his “divine” power after cutting his locks. But that was not the case with Dhoni. Rather his strength multiplied after shedding his lock. From a swashbuckling batsman, he has graduated into a bold captain.

“He is a winner, a born captain”, gushed Sunil Gavaskar and Ravi Shastri, eulogising the leadership qualities of Dhoni today. Chief selector Dilip Vengsarkar also praised Mahi for his “marvellous” captaincy.

Like a true leader, Dhoni left the main stage at the award ceremony in Brisbane today to his “young” players. He also stood by Harbhajan Singh and lashed out at the Australian media for their unrelenting attempt to pin down the spinner all summer after India won the first-ever tri-series title Down Under.

“This is the best tour I have been on. It cannot get better than this as we played the world’s top two teams Sri Lanka and Australia,” said Dhoni after leading Team India to a nine-run victory in the nerve-wrecking sec- ond final of the tri-series at the Gabba.

Naturally, Mahi’s fans went berserk at his hometown as soon as Piyush Chawla took the catch of J.R. Hopes. The state capital virtually celebrated Holi today two weeks in advance. But the doors of Dhoni’s home in Shyamali Colony were shut for newspersons seeking sound bytes from his father Pan Singh and his mother.

But his fans and patrons were in a celebratory mood.

Jharkhand State Cricket Association celebrated Team India’s victory by bursting firecrackers and distributing sweets in Jamshedpur.

“We will have a bash. Mahi has done us proud,” said senior cardiologist H.D. Sharan, who has watched him grow.

Dhoni’s brother-in-law Gautam, who is out of station on a business trip, would no doubt join the celebrations once Dhoni returns.

The cricket hero of the city is expected to spend a few days with his family and friends here before taking on South Africa two weeks later.