Hair as a prank, except we're not sure if they are the pranked or the prankster.
The Dhoni Hairstyle has been an underserved genre over the years, especially as it has become a key pre-IPL ritual.
This is what is most interesting about the hair, and why it doesn't work: the elaborateness of it.
It's also interesting - in that mid-life-crisis-y kind of way - that he's gone back to growing it long for the first time since he burst onto the scene in the mid-2000s.
How cool can you really be if a military dictator likes your hair?
Is this the first time ever he's not quite managed to pull a look off?
Who wore it better? Probably not the guy on the right • AFP/Getty Images
This is the first post in a new blog, Free Hit, that will feature random thoughts, observations and reflections from ESPNcricinfo's writers.
The only plus I see is that he's not gone full mullet, like Mitch Marsh or Adam Zampa, who leave the impression not so much of a style statement as of an exercise in postmodern irony. Hair as a prank, except we're not sure if they are the pranked or the prankster.
The Dhoni Hairstyle has been an underserved genre over the years, especially as it has become a key pre-IPL ritual. Will he play this season or won't he? Will he lead this season or won't he? Will he win the IPL this season or won't he? What new hairstyle will he unveil this season?
This is what is most interesting about the hair, and why it doesn't work: the elaborateness of it. It sits incongruously with the image of Dhoni, especially latter-day MS, the ultimate ascetic cricketer, batting and keeping pared right down to only the things that secures wins, with hair that requires minimal maintenance. He pulled off looks without trying too hard.
It's also interesting - in that mid-life-crisis-y kind of way - that he's gone back to growing it long for the first time since he burst onto the scene in the mid-2000s. That was a different long - flattened and straightened, with red tints. It was as much a signal as the way he batted, though that we were dealing with a slightly different species ( the first India team he played in was stuffed with legends but, with all due respect, had zero interesting hair between them).
It went soon after he won the 2007 T20 World Cup, although the real death knell was the moment the late Pervez Musharraf expressed his admiration for it . How cool can you really be if a military dictator likes your hair?
