Sunday, 23 February 2014
Will MS Dhoni resign from indian cricket captaincy?
"Time for Dhoni to go," writes Ian Chappell, former Australian captain, and probably the only sensible cricket writer and thinker left in the world.
Ian is right, what more should a test captain do to lose his job? Dhoni & Duncan fletcher have become synonymous to overseas defeats that they both do not deserve to continue in their jobs.
Its a torture watching India play test matches these days especially when they are bowling. Dhoni has lead India to a dark period (like in 90's) in the test Arena. An Indian fan would agree with me when i say that he doesn't bother watching when India is bowling and i don't blame him. I mean, who would want to watch Ishant Sharma bowl?? Playing the same set of spineless bowlers again and again and again is more than enough to be losing interest in this Indian team. Some people talk about how Dhoni is not as blessed as say a Graeme Smith or Michael Clarke when it comes to bowlers. How can Dhoni unearth a good bowler if he doesn't give the new guys any opportunities?? There is enough bowling talent in India which he doesn't bother to utilize. A new captain might change this and might give opportunities to a lot of new talent.
Dhoni has no knowledge of the conditions or field placement when playing outside the sub-continent. Also, he does not lead by example. You see successful team wicket keepers are batting so beautifully like AB De Villiers for SA, Brad Haddin for Aus, Matt Prior until of late for Eng. But Dhoni has never played a match winning innings for India in tests outside India. He never will but he does not have the quality to do so.
MS Dhoni, probably the greatest finisher in the game of cricket, and truly a great limited overs captain with couple of world cups under his belt, has failed miserably as a test match captain. There are calls of him being replaced by Virat Kohli as captain of India.
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| MS Dhoni, Will he take responsibility and resign? |
MS Dhoni's performance as a leader of Indian cricket has been disappointing, especially in longer format of the game. It is not just about lack of runs, but it is also about inability to inspire and take the best out of what is available to him. His fan's might say 'captain is as good as his team', but isn't it true as well that 'good captains are able take best out of their players' thereby lifting up the performance of their team. Arjuna Ranatunga, Sourav Ganguly, and at present Brendon McCullum are prime examples of it. All of them started their captaincy stint with bunch of inexperienced players.
It's not that the past captains of India had battery of fast bowlers or world class spinners available to them. Indian spinners never made the same impact on foreign tours as at home. But they combined with their captains and together they were able to put up a good show. Yes India lost then as well, but never looked as hopeless as they are looking now under Dhoni. Something seems to be missing between Dhoni and his team members, and by the looks of it things are likely to remain same in the future as well. There is air of hopelessness surrounding Indian cricket.
There is no doubt that he is a defensive captain. He himself stated that he doesn't like to take risks when he refused to chase down 60 odd runs in last session in West Indies to win a test match. One sometimes wonder what he sees as risk is really a risk or just lack of confidence in himself and his team. May be this is the reason why he always keeps fielders in the deep, follow the ball, and always field first because he fear that his bowlers, which he don't trust, won't be able to defend the total. Batting 2nd has been counterproductive and has put inexperienced batting order under pressure of chasing 300 plus totals.
Under MS dhoni even proven performers like Virendar Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir, Harbhajan Singh, and Yuvraj Singh, have failed to perform at their best. All of them are now out of team. What has happened to them? Irfan Pathan, Yusuf Pathan, why they are not delivering under MS Dhoni? There can't be all wrong with such proven performers. There must be something wrong with Dhoni! May be those were too 'hot' players and MS like 'cool' playes just like himself. But hot and cool is not a question here, and not what MS Dhoni likes personally, India want players in the team who can perform, match after match, and a captain who can motivate them and not hurt their confidence by making irresponsible statements in the press conferences.
Worst thing about dhoni is that he doesn't allow individuals to express themselves. at 95-4 Aussies would have been all over their opponents under Michael Clarke but under Dhoni it was looking as if it was all over for India, at least that is what the feeling fans got watching the match on television. Virat Kohli, natutrally aggressive tried to disturb the concentration of batsmen just like any other team's player would have done when long partnership was going on between McCullum and BJ Watling, but then the voice came from stump mic 'take it easy' and kohli was all cold after that, runs continued to get plundered.
MS Dhoni had an experienced side full of talent on his plate when he started his captaincy. Current Indian team is full of young cricketers, especially batsmen, with Virat Kohli the only batsmen to have played more than 20 test matches. One would have thought that batting will not do well in overseas conditions, something that Indian batsmen have always struggled with, and India will continue to loose matches because of that. But opposite has happened. Both in South Africa and New Zealand, Indian batting order had put their team into winning positions, but such were the plans of MS Dhoni that the team managed to loose from position of strength. Bowlers can't be blamed because they showed the ability to pick wickets by picking up top order batsmen, but Dhoni wasn't too keen on picking up more wickets, it seemed.
MS Dhoni is also not keen on giving new player chances. Very talented Ajinkya Rahane carried drinks for couple of years and now Ishwar Pandey, Umesh Yadav, Stuart Binny will do the same, unless someone else is given chance to lead the Indian team.
One good news is that Virat Kohli will lead Indian side in upcoming Asia Cup.
It will allow selectors to assess the captaincy skills and leadership qualities of kohli. Many in India see him as a captaincy material. But there are others who feel kohli is too aggressive and not fit for the job. They want 'captain cool' to carry on. But as Rahul Dravid said recently 'you got to risk it all' and that is what one can surely expect from Virat Kohli.
Anyway, Indian cricket is not known to take tough calls. And it is very much possible that MS Dhoni would continue to lead the Indian side until the next world cup, and even after that, despite India continue to get hammered by the opposition teams when they tour. Former captains, Rahul Dravid and Sourav Ganguly, are also in favor of giving MS Dhoni a go till 2015 World Cup giving excuse that a new captain might not have enough time to built a team in such a short time. But problem is captaincy in test cricket and not one day cricket, so why not hand over captaincy to Virat Kohli in test matches and let MS Dhoni concentrate on ODI cricket.
The problem lies in our judgement being based on feelings and not facts . The future of Indian team performance in overseas tests cannot be sacrificed at the altar of 'personality Cult'.The fact is we have been thrashed thoroughly in 4 consecutive tours.The answers lies in a fresh combination of strategy and tactical inputs which only a new leader can infuse in his team and impose on the opposition keeping in view tours of England and Australia in the latter half of this year . MSD can be pursued with in the shorter formats as skipper,as his shelf life is well past the expiry date in tests overseas.
The problem lies in our judgement being based on feelings and not facts . The future of Indian team performance in overseas tests cannot be sacrificed at the altar of 'personality Cult'.The fact is we have been thrashed thoroughly in 4 consecutive tours.The answers lies in a fresh combination of strategy and tactical inputs which only a new leader can infuse in his team and impose on the opposition keeping in view tours of England and Australia in the latter half of this year . MSD can be pursued with in the shorter formats as skipper,as his shelf life is well past the expiry date in tests overseas.
Criticism will continue and many people will speak as if they really think for the good of Indian cricket. But my experience tells me nothing will happen. Don't expect MS Dhoni to leave captaincy of Indian cricket team. No way he will resign. Virat Kohli might have to wait forever.
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