Recent Comments On Dhoni’s Captaincy
“I think he [Dhoni] doesn’t trust his bowling attack as much as I think he should.... That is a slightly defensive mindset he has got into.”
Rahul Dravid
Former India cricketer
“As a Test captain, he’s too reactive and has a tendency to let the game meander along. When a captain starts to hinder his team, he needs to be replaced.”
Ian Chappell
Former Australia player, commentator
“His (Dhoni’s) Test captaincy has been obnoxious. If the World Cup was not less than a year away, I would have agreed that Dhoni should be removed as captain.”
Sourav Ganguly
Former India captain
“Dhoni is a defensive captain, one who allows the opposition to make a comeback in the game.”
Mohinder Amarnath
Former India cricketer
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It’s one of the most durable of cliches on Indian cricket. It lies dormant in a domestic series, rears its head obstinately after a foreign disaster, as now—that we are tigers at home, chokers abroad. Its handmaidens—after every overseas tour, there will be a brief call to sack the captain (this time, the coach was spared). That as soon as the team wins anything—odis, T20s—we will not only forgive but also forget, as always, the ignominy of losing Tests overseas.
So, predictably, the recent New Zealand Test series loss and the Test defeats before that prompted raucous cries for stripping Mahendra Singh Dhoni of his Test captaincy. While Dhoni himself may well be introspecting as the team plays the Asia Cup, opinion in the cricketing world on his fate is divided. After all, did he not lead India to the World Cup win in 2011, the T20 World Cup win in 2007 and the top Test ranking in 2009? To balance that is a bitter pill: we have also lost 14 Test matches played on foreign soil in the past three years. And won none.
However, has there been no positives at all from the New Zealand series, or are all Test losses the same? Are poor records enough reason to replace a captain? Also, is there any other reason for the sudden drop in the popularity ratings of Mahi, the blue-eyed boy of BCCI supremo N. Srinivasan and acclaimed leader of Chennai Super Kings? Then there is the practical problem of having different captains for Tests, odis and T20s, with the 2015 World Cup only a year away. “Whenever we lose, the captain and the coach are blamed. The players are equally responsible. What plagues the team is inconsistency,” says Anshuman Gaekwad, former batsman and India team coach. “If the players can perform once, they can perform other times as well.... Also, no team has done well overseas except South Africa.”
India’s away record is terrible, but experts say it is important to see how the team performed in those lost matches. “India should have won in New Zealand. We have never lost in Auckland and this time we lost by 40-odd runs. The team management is to be blamed for not selecting five bowlers instead of four,” says former spinner E.A.S. Prasanna. However, the murmurs of Dhoni’s record as Test captain have been around for some time. When England beat India 2-1 on home turf in 2012, his captaincy was questioned. Referring to Dhoni’s criticism of the pitch after the win in Ahmedabad, K. Srikkanth, former selector, said: “Why do you go with a negative mindset after winning....Dhoni is confused. When things go out of control, he lets things drift.” Former chief selector Dilip Vengsarkar too had openly criticised his captaincy, but noted the paucity of any other options.
Dhoni with Gurunath Meiyappan. (Photograph by Quickpix)
The deprecations are louder now—Sourav Ganguly recently termed Dhoni’s captaincy ‘obnoxious’ and Ian Chappell made a case for Virat Kohli as his replacement. “While overseas wins are an indicator of a successful captain, traditionally we have not been competent abroad—which is why away performances have great relevance. If numbers are any indicator, the performances on foreign tours have been bad. But the captaincy situation is very complex right now,” says former Mumbai player Shishir Hattangadi. Firstly, Dhoni’s success as ODI and T20 captain and above-average performance as a player will make it tough for selectors to look elsewhere, especially to a younger and inexperienced Virat as a Test captain. “Even if you want to replace Dhoni, one needs to look at options. Virat has barely captained Delhi. A captain has to go through extensive grooming and training, and takes a few years to settle down,” says Gaekwad. Secondly, the absence of senior players such as Tendulkar and Dravid, while infusing a much-needed youthful energy, has also left the team with fewer leadership options.
India’s next overseas tour, to England in July, has five Tests and five odis. Test captaincy on such an obviously important overseas tour may put too much burden on Virat. Before that, there is the IPL razzmatazz to reckon with. Indeed, former players have regularly deplored a packed calendar and preference for odis and T20s for its impact on players’ Test abilities. “Players do not have the attention span anymore for five days and 90 overs per day. They can only think through shorter formats. The Board needs to look into this matter. They have appointed so many experts for this job,” says a livid Bishen Singh Bedi, critical as always of the glitz and money that has “corrupted the game”. Earlier, a tweet of his spewed venom: “All ills o Indn crkt’ll b forgoten 1ce IPL starts again!Money cn buy many a crktr/votes bt money can’t buy team performance!!”
Despite Dhoni’s unmatched success as T20 captain and being retained by CSK for a whopping Rs 12.5 crore, it is the IPL match-fixing issue that now nags him. The betting controversy, arguably more damaging to CSK than Rajasthan Royals—whose players were caught for alleged spot-fixing—is about to take a serious turn. The Supreme Court will opine on the Mudgal Committee Report on March 7. “Yeah maybe, but the media needs to segregate the IPL controversy from cricket. It has got nothing to do with cricket,” reacts Hattangadi, insisting that India is still better off with Dhoni. “Controversies exist, but Dhoni will take it in his stride,” says Gaekwad. He echoes the need for consistent performance, acclimatisation on overseas turfs and “focus on solutions, not problems”.
Dhoni’s successes, terrible overseas record and its effect on his popularity vis-a-vis the heir apparent, Virat Kohli, will have the advertising world glued to this unfolding play of fortunes. Is Dhoni past his sell-by date? No! goes the chorus. “It is the law of the jungle. As long as the alpha male lion is the strongest in the pride, all others remain on the periphery licking their wounds and waiting for him to weaken. The moment he starts limping, there are many to pounce on him and claim his position. There is no equitable distribution, it is all or none,” says Prahlad Kakar, ad guru and Dhoni supporter. “However, your fall is determined by how arrogantly you moved up. Dhoni has managed well until now and is loved by all. I don’t see any threat to his brand image. He will manage just fine.”
So the stage is set for the rigours of another season. The team’s losses in New Zealand, South Africa or before are unlikely to affect Dhoni’s captaincy chances. The reasons are the absence of a viable option and the impending World Cup. The threat lies elsewhere. Ominous as it may sound, there will be many ready to pounce on Dhoni if his name crops up in the SC verdict. Ironically, it is the outcome of this grave issue which has besmirched cricket that may impact Dhoni’s role. But relief may follow soon, for the IPL should blitzkrieg its way through our senses and may just dull painful memories that whimper in corners of foreign fields. That old cliche won’t just die.
