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Curious Case of Captain Cool
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Articles -
From the coaching manual
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Wednesday, 11 January 2012 19:04 |
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Contributed by GK
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(1383 views) |
Will Dhoni, the batsman, ever be questioned on merit? Not really, till he plays for a franchise owned by the BCCI president with the chairman of selectors being the brand ambassador of the same.
It’s been a nightmarish season for Indian batsmen, especially in Test cricket. All of them have been dissected to the T and found wanting against quality opponents. Critics and experts have feasted on the famed, strong-on-paper batting line-up. And why not, the tag of ‘Tigers at home and chickens abroad’ has once again been embossed on them.
The Wall (Rahul Dravid) stood tall in England but has now got a gate letting the five and a half ounce leather cherry through. The Hyderabadis’ (VVS Laxman) wrists have started ditching him. The heavy luggage of an imminent hundredth century has kept the milestone-man (Sachin Tendulkar) too occupied.
The two Delhiites have their own issues to sort out. The Nawab of Najafgarh (Virender Sehwag) has been battling injuries along with being inconsistent and his opening partner, (Gautam Gambhir) has a similar script to deal with. Who is the sixth batsman no one knows (Virat Kohli, Suresh Raina, Yuvraj Singh, maybe Rohit Sharma), and the seventh batsman well he is the captain (MS Dhoni). How can you question his existence at all?
But why not? A player becomes a leader if he leads by example. No two ways about the fact that Dhoni has led by example in limited over formats, but in Tests, his performance is definitely questionable. Five centuries in 104 Test innings (66 Tests) is not something that is expected of a captain, especially when he was supposed to be India’s answer to a certain Adam Gilchrist.
Will the wicketkeeper batsman slot in Tests never be challenged because Dhoni leads the side? Well, it is a pertinent question. If he was just supposed to be a pure wicketkeeper who could also bat a little, like Sri Lankan Prasanna Jayawardene, then it was fine. But that’s not the case.
His claim to fame was always his unusual but brutal yet effective stroke play. The impact of his audacious batting exhibition turned into a camouflage for his far-from-polished wicket-keeping skills and he was fast-tracked to Tests. But the result wasn’t as impressive as in the limited overs format.
Agreed, that with captaincy comes more responsibility and he had to curb his natural instincts, but that happened at a huge cost. Dhoni fine-tuned his game, became a safer glovesman, who showed he is capable of shifting momentum at his will and wish. But how many times he has done that in Tests?
Discomfort while playing the short ball was compensated with brute power, but that would not work too often in Test cricket. The midwicket scythe to a yorker, spoke tons about his mastery of the F-50 format as his batting average remains 50+ even after playing more than 150 games. But in Tests...
There is no agenda here against Dhoni, but isn’t Dinesh Karthik a better batsman than the Indian skipper? If not then why would he be chosen to open the innings for India in Tests on five occasions, in which he has five half centuries (91, 77, 63, 56, 60) and one century (129).
Parthiv Patel, in the years ignored, has improved by leaps and bounds. His batting is more assuring and his wicket-keeping at par with all top wicketkeepers in the country, including Dhoni. The point here is not to make an agenda, but to raise the flag.
His place in the ODI and Twenty20 format will remain unchallenged, but Tests is a different ball game. There is no harm in relieving him from the burden of a format he probably doesn’t like too much. All his five Test centuries have come in the Indian sub-continent, two in Kolkata, one Ahmedabad, one Mumbai and one Faisalabad.
His highest Test score outside the sub-continent is 92 against England at The Oval in 2007. Going by sheer numbers, there isn’t anyone (Karthik, Patel, Wriddhiman Saha) who can match Dhoni’s records, but then none of our new crop of middle-order batsmen would ever be able to match what Dravid, Sachin, Laxman and Ganguly have achieved.
So the point is that will the question on the Captain Cool’s place in the side, purely on merit be ever raised? Do we need separate captains for Tests and limited overs cricket? May be not till Dhoni plays for an IPL franchisee which has the chairman of selectors as the brand ambassador. Not to forget the BCCI president also owns the franchise. Coincidences galore?
!joomlacomment 4.0 Copyright (C) 2009 Compojoom.com . All rights reserved."
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Last Updated on Wednesday, 11 January 2012 19:32 |
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