If one were to say that Mahendra Singh Dhoni is the most important person in the country, it would not be an exaggeration. One wonders how he is able to adapt to the constant attention and attendant publicity.

The other day it was reported that he eluded his security men in his home town Ranchi and reached the airport, a distance he covered in eight minutes. Apparently, he was not satisfied with the fitness of some of the security personnel. Whatever Z security might mean, as well as the presence of Black Cats imply, Dhoni seems to be in a world of his own.

Interestingly he has acquired some sophisticated guns which surely are unnecessary, as he has security men tailing him every moment of the day and night. Has anything similarly been done in the case of Sachin Tendulkar, the country’s most valuable cricketer? And if one were to ask the greatest chess champion in history, Viswanathan Anand, if he would welcome Black Cats and Z security, the modest Chennai lad might ask why he would need these as only the chess fraternity would recognise him.

Is there any real threat to Dhoni’s life?

If there is, it can only be from the type of terrorists who held Mumbai to ransom and so terrified Andrew Flintoff and Steve Harmison. And they are Pakistanis. What does it cost the government to protect Dhoni on a daily basis?

One fears the country believes itself to be in a state of siege from terrorists. It is not a happy state of mind. How many terrorists were there, after all?

The truth is the country was caught napping by the audacity of the attack. Has Dhoni a say in whether he wants this sort of intense security? Does it distract him from his daily business, which is playing cricket and leading the Indian team? Does he regard it as an invasion of his privacy?  Too many questions and no answers, but then so many things are a part and parcel of Indian life and defy rational explanations.

So, why grudge Dhoni the attention?