Pressure is a Messerschmitt up your a…, cricket is not: Keith Miller ‘Nugget’ Miller was arguably Australia’s greatest-ever all-rounder. He was also a war hero who served at the RAF in the Battle for Europe during World War II. As he returned to cricket after the Great War, he was asked about the pressure of playing an Ashes series. The reply was very Miller-like.
This correspondent knows very little about Ravichandran Ashwin’s favourite pastime, but most of the modern-day cricketers are not voracious readers. And after his comment at a press conference in Bangladesh, one can safely say interactions with the war heroes will help the Indian off-spinner put things in perspective. “If my captain asks me to die on the field, I’ll do it. It’s not just now, any captain, you’ve to go behind him. If he asks you to die on the field, then you’ve to be prepared to do it.” Ashwin was showing his support for Mahendra Singh Dhoni (MSD), while comparing a cricket team with “an army”. He drew the wrong analogy. Sport is far less important than life and death.
It would be interesting to know how India’s limited-overs captain reacted to the eulogy. He must have had a sheepish smile. But Dhoni has something more important to think about at the moment; his batting and captaincy future.
It’s too premature to say Dhoni’s captaincy is on the line. Just one series loss, notwithstanding the fact that it was against the minnows Bangladesh, doesn’t a paradigm make. But even if ‘they’ (the BCCI and national selectors) remove him from the post, it won’t be the end of his world. Dhoni knows this. He’s smart enough to put things in perspective.
Every captain has a shelf life. It is debatable whether Dhoni is past his sell-by date as a limited-overs captain. He’s India’s most successful skipper across formats and not many moons ago he led the team to seven successive wins in the World Cup. The series loss against Bangladesh was basically down to fatigue. The players were physically exhausted and mentally drained out. They just went through the motions. The upcoming tour of Sri Lanka will give us a better idea about Dhoni’s leadership future; if he’s the right man to take India to the World T20 next year.
Dhoni’s batting, however, is under the scanner. He’s 34 and no longer remains the impact player he used to be. In fact, Dhoni’s batting could be divided into three phases. He played his shots with gay abundance when he was young. Post 2011, he changed his approach, mixing caution with aggression and becoming a better player in the process without losing his mojo. His strike rate has dipped alarmingly of late.
Take the last three international assignments. In the tri-series in Australia earlier this year, he had a strike-rate of 56.45. World Cup was better: 102.15. But a slump, 76.10, followed in Bangladesh where he batted at No. 4 in the last two matches. The IPL figures, too, suggest a decline. Circa 2013, Dhoni had finished with an outstanding strike rate of 162.89. Last year, it was 148.40. It came down to 121.96 this term. The marauder has become a grafter.
From now on, it’s very likely that Dhoni will play up the order to allow himself more space and time to build his innings. He has quietly accepted the fact that he no longer fits into the role of a finisher. But does he have the game to score runs consistently at No. 4 against stronger opponents? Especially when the ball will move in the air and off the deck? Lack of quality alternatives makes him safe for the moment. Also, India will play all their matches in the subcontinent for the next year-and-a-half. But if the selectors want to build a team for the next World Cup, they’ve to take a call. Dhoni will be 38 in 2019, perhaps a little too old to go through the rigours of one-day cricket.
The selectors have to speak to India’s Test captain Virat Kohli as well, for he’s the future of Indian cricket. Kohli is a strong personality and made his displeasure (ostensibly with the team management’s mode of functioning) known ahead of the third ODI against Bangladesh. “We’ve been doubtful in our decision-making and that shows on the field. I don’t need to say this. Cricket watchers and experts can see guys not sure enough to express themselves,” he said in a TV interview. Dhoni came up with a sarcastic response at the post-match presentation. “…We need to make a decision if we want quick bowlers or if we want good bowlers even if they are not quick. We’ve been backing too many quick bowlers who haven’t been bowling well.” World knows Kohli’s fascination for serious pace. So who did Dhoni take a dig at?
India had seldom tried the two-captain theory before. The method usually doesn’t work well, for it creates multiple power centres in the dressing room. Selectors have to back Kohli.
Dhoni had enjoyed absolute authority over the past few years. But with N Srinivasan’s departure from the cricket board, things have been changing. Dhoni said he would be happy to “play as a player”. So one expects him to take the turn of events sportingly. After all, losing captaincy is far less painful than having ‘Messerschmitt’ up the rear.
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