Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s initial captaincy was like a breath of fresh air. Dhoni seemed to be the perfect person to take India through the transition from the old set of players (Ganguly, Kumble, Dravid, Tendulkar) to a younger group. And he had a great start to his captaincy: winning the Twenty20 World Cup and leading Chennai Super Kings to the finals. His record as a Test captain started with four consecutive victories against South Africa, Australia and England.
What was special about those initial days? Several things. He commanded respect in the team, but also gave respect and believed in his team. I remember the 2007 match against Australia when he, as a first-time captain, could have panicked. Instead, he made all the right calls, bringing his strike bowlers back, getting rid of the dangerous Hayden and trusting a total newcomer with the final over. That took guts. Later, details of that event showed a captain who was willing to stand behind his team and take responsibility.
Then things changed. I guess there were early warning signs. I remember Dhoni taunting Ravi Shastri about his Cricinfo article that gave no hope to India. That only meant that Dhoni was closely following the press and it had got to him. And he had no reason to feel angry. India were true underdogs in the first T20 Cup. Shastri only said what was obvious. But negative criticism affected Dhoni and it seems to continue to do so.
The first signs of change was the second India-England Test in 2008. India could have pressed hard for a victory. Instead they batted on and on until Gambhir fell short of a century. What was going on? It was obvious that somebody wanted to seal an Indian series victory without taking any risk, even though there was none and a much greater chance of having a whitewash. Who was that person?
As the Twenty20 World Cup approached, the batting order changes began. Hindsight is always 20-20, but even at that time, the whole circus of moving people around seemed ridiculous. Remember India had already tried this when Greg Chappell was in charge. Then, Irfan Pathan and Dhoni made hay and India set records in chasing down scores. But very soon, the strategy backfired after both players lost form. Why would India re-embrace such a failed tactic? Maybe because Dhoni remembered those days fondly?!
The worst part of this batting shuffle game was Dhoni’s position. It is impossible to peer into a man’s soul, but it seemed the epitome of selfishness to see Dhoni walk out at No. 3 each time the openers set a strong foundation, while remaining hidden when wickets fell early.
Fast forward to the Champions Trophy. Let’s ignore for a second all the results and focus on one moment in the last match. This was when Dhoni came to bowl against West Indies in the 17th over of the match when West Indies were 49/4. This against the second-string team when neither Harbhajan nor Mishra had come out to bowl.
So what was Dhoni doing? Read SOAL’s take on this. But let me simplify it for you. There are only two explanations – one giving the benefit of the doubt to Dhoni (he was doing it for the benefit of the team) and the other not so (he was doing it for some selfish reason). Let us ignore the second one and accept that Dhoni was doing it for the team. But that also is a terrible indictment of Dhoni.
Dhoni had never bowled a single ball in almost 150 one-dayers. Apparently, he believed that he could do a good job of containing West Indies or taking their wickets than two experienced spinners (Harbhajan & Mishra) against a second-hand side who had just lost to Bangladesh. Either he is the biggest nut job or he is the biggest self-glorifying egomaniac in Indian cricket.
And that is the kindest interpretation of events. A captain who believed in his team once now thinks that he is better than the specialists in his team. Yes, he can bat better than they do – that’s why he comes at No. 3. He can bowl better than they do – that’s why he chucks off the gloves. And he can also keep. He is the Superman!
India doesn’t need such mentally damaged goods. Give the reign to someone who has both feet on the ground and who can take India through to the next World Cup and win it.
Krish,
Who would you suggest for the captaincy?
I don’t know, Leela. But that should not prevent us from looking for a new captain. What if Dhoni was injured and out for a year?
I’m not a huge fan of Dhoni the captain. Rather, I’m afraid when he is done and dusted with captaincy, his admirers would mourn that he could nto lead India to the top spot — and I’m not talking about one night stands — after Australia had lost their nucleus and the pole position. I’m not a great fan of his disturbing tendency to press in part-timers ahead of the frontliners. If that clicks, he is hailed as a genius and maybe Dhoni aspired for those tributes. But it’s important for him to understand that it doesn’t happen everyday.
But at the same time, I just can’t join the clamour for his ouster only because we lost two ICC events. First of all, show me an alternative. Sehwag himself doesn’t know whether he wants to lead or not. Insincerity is Yuvraj’s middle name and he cut a sorry figure as a leader in IPL. Gambhir is too raw. It’s fine to say sack Dhoni but then who will step in his shoe?
Som, let’s assume that Dhoni is not available because of injury. Will India go without a captain? They will find someone. Why not now?
apart from his tendency to rely too much on part timers as som put in and not looking the certain set of players (over insistence on yousuf and persistent ignorance of mishra) i find no faults in his captaincy…
remember when pakistan was going great guns how he brought india back with wonderful field setting by making bowl rp to middle and leg… its just that the ‘selector’ dhoni got beaten by the captain dhoni… and he will learn it…
srilanka and south africa both teams with arguably better bowling attack than wayword indian bowling now got pasted 300+ scores so ultimately our exit can be attributed to the better management of resources than anything else…
You have a point there, Straight Point. But I do think Dhoni is obsessed with showmanship instead of being consistent (which is boring, but yields results).
oh i meant to say captain dhoni got beaten by the selector dhoni… my bad!
Yes, if he was injured the team would need to find a replacement ASAP. However, the fact that most people are unable to suggest an alternative should also be considered.
To some it might seem that this proves nothing except that MSD is the best of a bad lot. But to others (like myself) he is a good captain who has made a few bad calls.
I agree with SP that Dhoni the captain was beaten by Dhoni the selector. But this also begs the question, what is Kirsten doing?
As leela has pointed out i feel Kirsten should be more proactive and the management has to work on the principle perform or perish. Personally i was really happy to see yusuf (aus game) and ishant dropped for the final game (finally)! they just need to give a strong message to harbhajn by dropping him outside the subcontinent when he fails esp in ODI’s. Dhoni has to show faith in Ojha and Mishra to give them games ahead of Harbhajan.
Look at Zaheer and Sehwag once they were dropped they knew the importance of a place in the team and worked hard done the hard yards and have been in sublime form ever since.they havent been playing because of injury but I am sure they havent been dropped on form again after returning
Yusuf,Ishant and esp Harbhajan need to learn the same!
I for one finally see a decent captain for team India after a long time! and why would have name Dhoni teh captain of the ODI and Test teams of the year if he were so bad .
He is going through a rough patch as a captain and we should stand by him ! I am sure he will bounce back and he is only 28 years old..
as for your question test team captain would be sehwag (short term and to make us realize the importance of Dhoni as he has already done in his short tenure) and shorter formats Yuvraj singh if he isnt available Gambhir.
Never has the Indian board taken decisions which would choose a good captain rather mainly going to the most experienced.Remember Sachin was offered captaincy after Dravid stepped down! Going on that road if sehwag refuses test captaincy will go to Laxman!
My take on him bowling was that the pitch was providing assistnace to medium pacers.remember new zealand’s match did daniel vettori bowl till after the 40th over? he tried mark elliot and all the medium pacers before him.According to what you say vettori is in the same league as dhoni!?
Both of them were trying to extract what was in the wicket for the medium pacers before the moisture was lost in the seaming conditions..nayar had bowled before dhoni remember..and India did not have a medium pacer that day and Dhoni was the only option and at that point of time the match was inconsequential with aussies chasing the target pretty easily!!
surely him bowling an over is being taken far too seriously by everyone!!
If he was “Either he is the biggest nut job or he is the biggest self-glorifying egomaniac in Indian cricket.” he would have bowled even more like 4-5 overs why did he stop ? he was bowling well mind you with the in swingers and out swingers as well! That should answer your question!
If it does not please point out which part wasn’t clear and ill be more than happy to elaborate Krishna
Cheers
Aditya, the answer is pretty straightforward. Dhoni had never bowled a single over in one-days, EVER. So what made him think that he would be a success. What would have happened if instead of taking a wicket, he gave away 20-30 runs? Remember he started with two balls that were put away for boundaries.
Your argument about the Aussies chasing the target easily does not work well with your argument that Dhoni had a serious plan in hand when he came on to bowl. Only one of them can be true.
The West Indies were bowled out with more than 15 overs in hand. Surely, you could have had the main bowlers take on the first 40 overs and in the eventuality of someone being too sticky, change the plans.
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Sir,
cool down. gulp a soda or coffee..
we aint looking for short term solutions. and on basis of one loss we cannot and should not fire the man. He has been doing a very good job in the middle. now he has backed few players, they havent come good , he cant be faulted for that.
yes he is backing up Singh for too long n as SP says Mishra is being ignored for long, lets sit back and seigh.
I dont quite agree with your criticism on Dhoni. Just a couple of losses!!
Dhoni should be replace with Irfan pathan as Indian captain,Irfan pathan has all round abilities to bowl bat and field well and he is a senior member of our Cricket team. He has good All rounder record. Dhoni Bihari babu should be removed from the Cricket team also. He commented on all the senior members of our team such as Sourave Ganguly, Sachin Tendulkar, and sehwag although he does have right to comment on senior members of our team.HE won previous games not because of his ability but also the full support of players. HE should play with toys with his children. I am waiting for his fire. any body should be captain but should not be dhoni. In the present team Irfan pathan, Sehwag and YUvrag have all rounder abilites any one of them should be captain of our cricket team. Dhoni is greedy man.
according to me india will win world cup only if indian captain is a bowler
Mahendra Singh Dhoni ne bihari hokar bhi naam kama liya. Aaj wo India ke famous people ki list mein hai. Aur hum padhe likhe log, in sabke gun gate hain…..