It was a quintessential MSD response. After an embarrassing
six-wicket loss in the second T20 at the Barabati Stadium, 'Captain
Cool' chose to dwell on the crowd trouble and used gallows humour to
describe the response of the people to India's mediocre performance.
However, even with his phlegmatic attitude, he would know that he
doesn't have the same command over the limited-overs format like he used
to.
It will also be interesting to
see how the
new regime in BCCI will view his struggles. Will he be retained as
skipper in the shorter formats? The day Virat Kohli was named captain of
the Test side, it was clear that Dhoni's days as captain in
limited-overs too were numbered, but with the World T20 in India next
year, there was a school of thought that the biennial event would be the
perfect farewell to celebrate an illustrious career. However, his
dipping form is making things difficult for arguably world cricket's
finest finisher.
India lost in the semis in the
2015 World Cup, then suffered a humbling loss in the ODI series to
Bangladesh, and now the T20 series loss to SA makes has left him
treading on thin ice. The last T20 at Eden Gardens might be
inconsequential, but the following five-match ODI series might be a test
of character for Dhoni. The skipper talked about playing the Eden T20
game and future contests with greater mental freedom, but one doubts
whether life will be so stress-free for him.
In
reference to Team India director Ravi Shastri wanting to de-stress the
Indian skipper, Dhoni said, "It's slightly difficult in the T20 format
because it's so short. I feel I use too much brain in this format. It's
very important I keep myself free and go and play my strokes. A lot of
time when I go into bat, be it the 16th or 17th over or in the fourth or
fifth over when wickets have fallen down, I have the tendency of
thinking 'let's get to 130. That will be a good score' and I play a bit
slow.
"One of the reasons why I want to bat up
the order is that somebody else takes the responsibility of batting
lower down the order, say No. 6, which is a very crucial position.
Unless they are exposed, you cannot tell who is good. If I start batting
at No. 5, at least someone else will take up that responsibility," he
explained.
Of late though, Dhoni doesn't invoke
the same fear in bowlers like he used to. He mishits balls that are in
his zone. Dhoni is still one of the fittest cricketers around. However,
international cricket is a lot about skill and retiring from the
five-day format and not playing domestic cricket has left him short of
match practice.
It's time for Dhoni to take stock.
Only questions, hardly any answers for MSD
With
yet another series defeat, questions will definitely be asked about MS
Dhoni's leadership and selection policy (choosing to leave Rahane and
Mishra, men who are in-form, out; backing Axar Patel and then
criticising him; urging himself to bat more freely). With the World T20
not too far away, time seems to be running out for the man once
considered indispensable in limited-overs formats. TOI points out
instances where MSD's moves have backfired in T20s.
India vs New Zealand, Chennai, Sept 2012
A
routine chase of 167 after Virat Kohli's sublime 70 (41 balls) was made
difficult by skipper Dhoni's curiously timid approach.With 49 needed
off 42 balls and MS Dhoni and Yuvraj Singh at the crease, India were
expected to win with an over to spare. But the Indian skipper's tendency
to leave the big-hitting till late backfired spectacularly and India
fell short by a solitary run with six wickets remaining. Dhoni's
contribution to the defeat was a pedestrian 22 off 23 balls.The Chennai
effort was followed by some whimsical selection policies during the ICC
World T20 in Sri Lanka involving Sehwag.
India vs Sri Lanka, Dhaka, April 2014
While
the final of the World T20 will be remembered more for Yuvraj Singh's
21-ball 11 that eroded all the good work done by Virat Kohli, the
skipper too played a part in India reaching just 130. He held back
in-form players like Suresh Raina and when his turn came to bat, he
swung wildly without connecting, leaving a red-hot Kohli stranded at the
other end. While Lasith Malinga and Nuwan Kulasekara deserved credit
for clinical death bowling, they were made to look a lot better by a
rusty skipper.
India vs England, Birmingham, Sept 2014
Dhoni's
tendency to take the game deep into the contest was highlighted again
as he scored 14 off 12 balls. After a Kohli special 66 (40b), India
needed 50 off 35 balls with Raina and Dhoni at the wicket. Easy?
Not
with Dhoni's latest fascination to keep waiting for the final push. He
promotes Ravindra Jadeja ahead of an in-form Ambati Rayudu. After Jadeja
leaves, he refuses three singles off the last seven balls to deny
Rayudu strike and leave the onus of hitting the final runs on himself.
The ploy, not surprisingly backfires. India lose by 5 runs.
No comments:
Post a Comment