The World Cup is now over, and so is the IPL. And fairly enough, Mahendra Singh Dhoni has got the credit he deserves, from the fans and media alike. India, in cricket, at the moment, are on the top of the world. And it is Dhoni indeed, who presently holds the key to this wonderful unit which has achieved so much in the last decade and a half. But something somewhere is seriously lacking-and you won't just call it complacency after winning the World Cup-it was there even before, and has been there ever since he was tagged as the responsible leader rather than the explosive big-hitting, though rather unorthodox, but almost instant hit formula of India's ever so famous batting order.
His attacking nature was why he was preferred over many other wicket-keepers on the domestic scene, replaced VVS Laxman in India's one-day side, and forced the wicket-keeper's gloves off Rahul Dravid, for what has been more than six years now. And inarguably, he has been India's best wicket-keeper batsmen by far, and one of the best the world has ever seen-that is at least what his record suggests. But it has become far more calculative with the course of time, his game that is, and to be honest, the calculation even goes wrong sometimes-it is one of the proven side-effects of being too calculative in sport.
He is the captain, he knows how to bat much better than many others in thie game, and has the luxury to choose the number he wants to bat at. So why not bat at no.3 at times when the team needs a bit of momentum upfront, when the side is in a bit of a bother, when India need a match winner to go and blast out, and play an innings far away from ordinary, and change the course of the game. And even if he does, he should do it more often, sense the perfect occassion when the situation demands him to do so, and do it more often when the designated batsman at that position, be it test or one-day, is struggling, and not when the team is in a comfortable position, and has already had a perfect opening partnership.
And when it comes to decision making, there is still a bit that suggests that he needs to be more aggressive, rather than trying to be in an oversecured position first, and then going for the kill. One of the major features of Ponting captaincy in Australia's world domination era was the fact that the approach was attacking right through, at any stage of the came, and that was what automatically created a secure position. And that is exactly what Dhoni should do with his side. A fine example of such a situation where he failed to do so, was in India's second test against the West Indies at Barbados, that concluded yesterday. It's not exactly about the declaration, it's more about India's defensive-though not over-defensive(by test standards) approach on the fourth day, which was evident of instructions from the team management, and if they thought that was the only way out, Dhoni should have come in earlier, and at least tried to change things-if you already have the reputation of doing so, so why not now? The fact that Australia in their domination period of test cricket, won most of their matches, and draws were very few and far between. And in the one-dayers, by now, he must have realized when to take the batting powerplay, especially after India's middle-order failure in their World Cup fixture against South Africa at Nagpur.
All he needs to do is to go all out to achieve greatness, and he and his team will achieve all that they have ever dreamed of!
His attacking nature was why he was preferred over many other wicket-keepers on the domestic scene, replaced VVS Laxman in India's one-day side, and forced the wicket-keeper's gloves off Rahul Dravid, for what has been more than six years now. And inarguably, he has been India's best wicket-keeper batsmen by far, and one of the best the world has ever seen-that is at least what his record suggests. But it has become far more calculative with the course of time, his game that is, and to be honest, the calculation even goes wrong sometimes-it is one of the proven side-effects of being too calculative in sport.
He is the captain, he knows how to bat much better than many others in thie game, and has the luxury to choose the number he wants to bat at. So why not bat at no.3 at times when the team needs a bit of momentum upfront, when the side is in a bit of a bother, when India need a match winner to go and blast out, and play an innings far away from ordinary, and change the course of the game. And even if he does, he should do it more often, sense the perfect occassion when the situation demands him to do so, and do it more often when the designated batsman at that position, be it test or one-day, is struggling, and not when the team is in a comfortable position, and has already had a perfect opening partnership.
And when it comes to decision making, there is still a bit that suggests that he needs to be more aggressive, rather than trying to be in an oversecured position first, and then going for the kill. One of the major features of Ponting captaincy in Australia's world domination era was the fact that the approach was attacking right through, at any stage of the came, and that was what automatically created a secure position. And that is exactly what Dhoni should do with his side. A fine example of such a situation where he failed to do so, was in India's second test against the West Indies at Barbados, that concluded yesterday. It's not exactly about the declaration, it's more about India's defensive-though not over-defensive(by test standards) approach on the fourth day, which was evident of instructions from the team management, and if they thought that was the only way out, Dhoni should have come in earlier, and at least tried to change things-if you already have the reputation of doing so, so why not now? The fact that Australia in their domination period of test cricket, won most of their matches, and draws were very few and far between. And in the one-dayers, by now, he must have realized when to take the batting powerplay, especially after India's middle-order failure in their World Cup fixture against South Africa at Nagpur.
All he needs to do is to go all out to achieve greatness, and he and his team will achieve all that they have ever dreamed of!
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