Allow us to introduce to you iSporter Dr. Anand Subramanian, who shares an analytical article on Mahendra Singh Dhoni, the fire-brand from Ranchi who took Indian cricket by storm, the Captain who could do no wrong: be it his long haired avatar which drew admiration from none other than the Pakistani ruler or his "Six-on-demand" ability which fans flock to witness. An exceptionally successful captain, beginning with the T20 world cup to reaching the pinnacle of success at the 50 over format. So what has suddenly changed?
Ardent Indian cricket lovers have never shied away commenting and I am no exception. I believe Dhoni's success stemmed from his "assertiveness": whether it was giving the 'untried and untested' Joginder Sharma the last over or promoting himself up the order in the world cup final. Never the one to take a backward step, he believed in taking the bull by the horns. At every level, every step along the way, Dhoni was confident and assertive to outline the road map. Not "a" road map, "the" road map to follow. He had no illusions about his fate: Were he to fail, knives and daggers would be drawn and no effort spared in writing him off. It is this supreme confidence that took him and the teams he led to reach the level of success achieved.
So what went wrong in England? For the first time, Dhoni is not certain in his mind: whether it is the "Kirsten (and Paddy Upton) effect", only time will tell, for the role of Kirsten in Indian triumph can and should never be forgotten. Whatever the reason, it is this very assertiveness that has deserted Dhoni at the worst possible time.
Assertiveness in:
- WICKET-KEEPING. : If we lament on Dravid's relatively inept catching and the let-off given to English batsmen at critical moments, we should look at the height at which Dravid has had to take those catches. Dhoni's insistence on standing deeper and deeper, forgetting that the Indian seamers bowl in the late 70's not the late 80's in the mph category has balls reaching him, and by continuum the slips far lower than necessary. Not to mention the numerous edges falling short of the slips. "It is much better for edges to be dropped when coming at pace than to fall short" is often a comment accredited to top slip fielders and bowlers alike. Dhoni's reluctance to come up a few steps did let the team down in the fielding department.
- STRATEGY: Pravin Kumar was virtually unplayable with his swing and seam in the first few moments of the series. Andy flower and co worked out a solution. At his speed; it wasn't very difficult to stand way outside the crease to negate the swing. Not only did they take LBW out of the equation but also wrecked PK's line and length. Now fast forward to the Indian 2nd innings with the bat in the third test. Sachin Tendulkar tried something similar when Anderson's swing was creating trouble. So what did Prior do? Donned the helmet and stood up to the stumps. If Prior could do so to a bowler bowling at 90 mph, was it not possible to do the same to a bowler bowling at least 10 mph slower? The only problem would have been the fine nicks, but Dravid standing finer at first slip may have rectified that situation to a degree. Indian bowling was pedestrian, made to look even further by the English plans. What was needed was to negate their plans; rather we played our role of obedient guests to a nicety.
- BATTING: Watching Dhoni bat the first four innings, I felt his look-alike was at the crease: blocking long hops by Swann, leaving the ball, not rotating the strike. Things completely uncharacteristic of Dhoni were witnessed. It was only when the series was done and dusted (practically, though theoretically, it was only 2-0) did the original Dhoni step up to the plate. For the first time in the series, it felt the Indian batting extended beyond no.6 (giving a little credit to that 70 odd effort of Raina in the Lords test). Assertive in his mind with a positive outlook was the need of the hour to begin the series with, not when the horse had bolted and the series was drawing to a close.
- CAPTAINCY: Most fans are still not sure what happened at lunch in the first test when England was batting a second time around. A lasting memory of the Perth test was the conversation between Kumble, Sehwag and Ishant at the end of Ishant's seven over spell to Ponting and those four words "ek aur over dalega?"And the rest is history. India missed a trick in not giving Ishant the ball straight after lunch and the repercussions are for all to see. Ishant may have asked for rest but it is surprising Dhoni didn't assert himself. It is this assertiveness which possibly turned that innings around and possibly the series as well, I believe.
- TEAM SELECTION. Would it not have made sense for Sehwag to have undergone a little more acclimatization in England prior to the third test? It was evident that India needed Sehwag. But what they need more was a fit Sehwag to bolster the squad. Maybe a little planning may have helped. May be Dhoni could have asserted himself again in getting what the team needed.
Perhaps over-reacting, perhaps over-critical, but aren't we or should I say "weren't we" the number 1 team in the world? A team which beat the odds, the system, every obstacle in their path to become number 1 and stay there for 1 year 8 months. One which achieved so much and which promised even more but eventually lost the plot to such an extent that even a 4-0 whitewash now does not seem out of question! A team is number in the true sense only if they stick on the top consistently. It's time now for soul-searching. And maybe it should begin at the top? Or should I say at the top of the top: in the mind of Mahendra Singh Dhoni!
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Mohammad Riyaz Tatipamula
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... Dhoni just ran out of luck...He's a real waste and now we will see that in the coming years.... |
Golandaaz
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... i think India lost because of many things. You are correct in that the test at Trent Bridge could have been different had Ishant bowled after lunch but that in itself exposes the fact that India did not have anyone else to keep up the pressure. Overall we were outmatched. Many of the things you point out are true but would have only contributed to a better more respectable loss but England were the better team all round and would have won anyways. |
Jigar Mehta
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... Gr8 point made about the position of Slip fielder and Dhoni coming upto the stumps1 in other words Dhoni was truely unlocked! very analytical enjoyed the technicality of it! |
Naman
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... I completely agree on your views about keeper standing a little up. In fact, once we were 2-0 it was the right time for Dhoni to put on his thinking cap and do something “unexpected” on the field. Unfortunately for Indian cricket fan, we got to see only "the expected" sights. Indian bowlers were hit all around the park and batsmen were falling like a pack of cards. I fail to understand how Mishra was able to hang in there longer that all the other players (seasoned batsmen) baring a few. Not only did Mishra stick to wicket but hit some wonderful shots. I hope now, that the team has come to its senses, they will fight back and beat England in all the ODIs. "Nothing is sweeter than revenge."  |
Ganeshkumar
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... I fully agree .. I was really ashamed of the fact that we won the World Cup and were now in a position where I was deperately waiting for the series to get over as i just couldnt take the comprehensive defeats to take anymore... May be we have 1 last face saving chance in One Day Series X |
Vijay111184
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... Awesome analysis of wat went wrong in england series. According to me India were never a No 1 Test team. If we see most of the test series wins were not comprehensive at all. More so bowling looked paralysed in the absence of Zaheer and India won most of the series in subcontinent. So this series white wash is a kinda eye opener for Indian team and BCCI and needs a serious deliberations on various issues. Last but not the least BCCI should stop treating players as machine. |
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