IF Jeff Fenech and The Pixies can do it, it shouldn't come as a shock
that Shane Warne is planning a comeback. Still, hearing the news that
Warnie wants to play Test cricket again is a little like being told the
ex who dumped you fancies giving it another go: it's exciting at
first and you know there'll be good times ahead, but the potential
for heartbreak is huge.

If Stuart MacGill 'falls over and
breaks his leg' in a year's time, the greatest bowler this country
has produced is prepared to revive the Test career that apparently
ended on a note nearing perfection against England at the SCG on
January 5, 2007. But just for one series, against England for the 2009
Ashes.

Warne doesn't need the money. Nor is his legacy missing
anything. In fact, his reputation stands to lose more than it could
gain. Warne has already achieved the extraordinary. It's possible he
could outdo himself yet again, but it's also possible he could return
a pale imitation, a parody, of the great Test cricketer he was. Even
something slightly less than excellent would be a let-down. Sport is
littered with examples of the once-mighty who go to the well one more
time only to drown in their own avarice. For every Michael Jordan story
of triumph, there are tales of Joe Bugner, Martina Hingis, Fraser
Gehrig and Might And Power that highlight the dangers of revisiting the
past.

Warne has hardly been inactive in his 'retirement', it
must be noted. He's spent another season captaining Hampshire and
more recently has been rolling his arm over in reassuringly impressive
fashion for Rajasthan Royals in the Indian Premier League. But a return
to the rigours of Test cricket, having supposedly said his final
goodbye to the baggy green, would count as a shock comeback. Warne will
be pushing 40 when Australia's Ashes squad ventures to England. The
fact he wants to play a one-off series when most cricketers are long
retired is telling of his passion for Ashes cricket, and more so his
very personal interest in keeping the old enemy under the cosh.

It's
a nice story, but the chance of Australia taking Warne's bait is
close to zero. Ricky Ponting, the captain, has said as much, throwing
his weight behind the incumbent. Warne's age wouldn't be an issue
'" MacGill is only a year his junior, and over the years Test cricket
has hosted over 100 quadragenarians - and let's not kid ourselves:
Warne would probably do a better job than whomever Australia play as
they spinner in England. If the 2009 Ashes were to be the last series
of Test cricket for good, you'd play him in a heartbeat. But it
isn't, and Australia have a future to plan for.

By that token,
picking MacGill would seem a similarly redundant proposition. But there
is a key difference between Warne and MacGill: one has retired from
international cricket, the other has not. There is still time for one
of Australia's new breed to put his hand up '" and followers of
Australian cricket are desperately hoping one will '" but by and large
they are a disappointing lot. The likes of Dan Cullen, Beau Casson and
Cullen Bailey have each looked likely in the past, but none is remotely
ready for an Ashes series.

So, at this stage, we are left with
MacGill. Plenty could change between now and next July, but one thing
that should stay the same is Warne's place in the past. Some things,
even those as brilliant as the Test career of Shane Warne, should be
left to lie.

Two Test victories over world champions Australia, followed by three
one-day triumphs on the trot against England, and everybody is now
calling Mahendra Singh Dhoni the messiah of Indian cricket. The cue for
this, I reckon, has been taken from the overwhelming influence of the
recent US presidential elections. But for me, the `Barrack Obama
moment', so to speak, for Indian cricket came late last year when Dhoni
was still not the full-fledged captain of the team.

“Yes, we
can," he said when I asked him whether the world champions could be
beaten. This was right after India had beaten Australian in the T20
match at the CCI. I happened to be at the same restaurant as Dhoni, who
had come there to celebrate, along with a few colleagues. The team was
to fly out in a few days to Australia, but Ponting and Co on their home
pitches was altogether a different proposition. So what and how were
the Indian players squaring up to this challenge? I asked him.

“To
beat them in the middle, you have to beat them in the mind first,”
Dhoni told me. “You can’t have fear and win against Australia. We have
played for years like this against them, but no more. I am not
interested in giving Brett Lee and Ricky Ponting respect because they
are great players. I want to hit Lee for a six and get Ponting for
zero.” I searched for misplaced arrogance; the overconfidence of
youth, but Dhoni just looked intense and smiled wryly.

There
was a glint in his eyes, which suggested that these were not hollow
words: He meant business. Evidence of this came in various stages and
ways during that acrimonious tour ? in the manner in which he dealt
with Ponting's team and his own ?and reached a crescendo, of sorts, in
the recently completed home series. Led brilliantly by Dhoni, India
outsmarted and outplayed Australia so comprehensively that aficionados
now believe that the power structure of international cricket has been
redefined.

Can India become the number one team in the world
in the next 12 to 15 months? Given the talent available in the country,
this would seem a cinch. Which other team boasts players like
Tendulkar, Sehwag, Gambhir, Laxman, Yuvraj, Zaheer, Ishant, Harbhajan,
Dravid? Indian cricket now has the depth and class to dislodge
Australia from the pedestal they have occupied for almost 15 years.

And
yet, great players don't necessarily make a great team. It takes
something extra for a bunch of individuals to become a hunting pack
that lives, plays, and enjoys together. This requires not just a
captain, but a leader, at the helm. The history of sport suggests that
when this happens, a team can reach great heights. Whether Dhoni can
take Indian cricket to such heights remains to be seen, but at the
moment, it must be said that no other man seems better equipped to do
this.

What makes him such a compelling cricketer is not just his
abundant skill, rather the person he is. Dhoni thinks differently,
always positively, does not brood on failure, is prepared to take big
risks, and cherishes success without being greedy or obsessive. For a
young man, he has a very mature head on his shoulders, and he brings
this understanding to cricketing situations on the field, as well as in
man-management.

His rejection of Rahul Dravid and Saurav
Ganguly from the one-day team raised a few hackles, and many eyebrows,
and his unstinting support of Yuvraj brought about muted protests of
favouritism. In fact, the manner in which he changed the composition of
the team frequently ? and the batting and bowling orders ? during the
T-20 World Championships had caused the conservatives to question his
methods.

In the end, though, nothing succeeds like success.
Over the past 15 months, after being suddenly elevated to the
captaincy, Dhoni has won the Twenty20 World Championship, capped the
last tour of Australia with a sensational win in the tri-series, became
the highest-paid player in the Indian Premier League, led his Chennai
team into the final of the tournament with decisive leadership. Since
then, he has won all three Test matches he has led in, plus also the
first three one-dayers against England.

In this time he has
also become among the most respected and feared players in the world; a
man whose opinions are sought and respected. His earthy qualities, as
person and player, make him far more approachable than any other, and
in that sense he has a pan-India appeal that only celebrities like
Sachin tendulkar, Shah Rukh Khan and Amitabh Bachchan have enjoyed. I
can’t think of another Indian captain who has achieved so much in so
little time.

For a young man from the rugged hinterland of
Jharkand, who started life as a ticket collector in the railways, Dhoni
has traveled an incredible path, living out his own dream, and
providing succour to the dreams of crores of others who must now
believe: Yes, we can!