I have long been critical of India's captains for their lack of initiative and their propensity to captain by the numbers.
For far too long, captains have either underutilized their resources, not seized on key moments and have let the agenda and the tempo of the game be set by the opposition.
And then, there is MS Dhoni.
I was extremely critical of him when he was first appointed captain ( a compromise candidate a la Azharuddin, thought I). But he is the real deal.
In his first test as captain, like his forays in Twenty20 and Fifty over cricket, he was impressive.
His situational awareness is something I have yet to see from an Indian captain. Tactically too, he was on top of the game, controlling its tempo ( denying the Proteas boundaries in the second essay and thus getting momentum, opening the bowling with Ishant and Harbhajan, the best two bowlers on view in the Proteas first innings) and generally not panicking or letting the game drift when things went south (negating the advantage the Proteas had at 152/1 on the first Day).
Given the difficulty in managing the triple role of captain, wicket keeper and batsman over an extended period of time, does it make sense for Dhoni to give up his gloves when he assumes full time captaincy of the team?
If yes, is he good enough a batsman to warrant a place in the team as a batsman alone?
Monday, April 14, 2008
Is Dhoni the answer?
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16 comments:
Homer, my views on this issue may be construed as contrarian.
I am unconvinced about Dhoni the test batsman. As a keeper-bat, he is passable....just about.
What changes the picture is his flair for captaincy.
Some time ago, I had strongly advocated persistence with Ganguly through his personal batting formlessness in exchange for his appreciable captaincy skills...I am bound to be consistent in my logic and suggest the same for Dhoni.
I am willing to exchange his mediocre test batsmanship and passable keeping for his captaincy, but, I am unwilling to sacrifice yet another spot in the team by playing Dhoni as captain-batsman. As it is, we lose one option playing him as keeper for he isn't quite the all-rounder India hoped for in tests. he could change that though, but looks unlikely.
One thing which irks me about Dhoni is, of late, he distinctly plays better when he is in command. He makes not so subtle points about his captaincy in the press-talk later, but has never addressed this issue.
I'd like him to be skipper but am quite against his playing solely as a batsman-captain. That's a huge burden on the team...but if the argument was good for Ganguly, I must swallow the bitter pill in this case as well.
I don't mind if he saves one spot for his team by opting to keep wickets besides captaining though. That would truly be a great gesture. from him.
SB,
We both agree that he is not good enough to merit a place as batsman.
We also agree that his elevation as captain will be a good thing fr the Indian team.
Captaining the India team over multiple Test series as keeper-batsman-captain will take its own toll - something we cannot afford over the short to medium terms.
That is the million dollar question isnt it - How does one balance Dhoni's work load once he becomes captain?
Cheers
The question is - Is the Indian test team good enough after Kumble, Dravid and Sachin retire to afford Dhoni purely for his captaincy skills? Its been a while since he has played a good knock in tests (his cameos dont count).
pontings,
batting wise, we will do okay - sure the quality of batsmanship will not be the same but I think we have a decent crop of young batsmen who can do the job over the medium and long terms.
Bowling wise, we have depth in our fast bowling resources - for the first time we have both numbers and variety.
The only soft spot is the spin bowling arsenal - we have done a pretty poor job with building good roster depth to replace Kumble.
Cheers
It may not be a bad idea to try out Dhoni as a batsman for a few tests under Kumble's captaincy to see if he can handle the pressure of being a batsman only. Playing as batsman-keeper is daunting and his relative failure with the bat in tests could be attributed to it. Let's try what the Sri Lankans did with Kumara. The good thing is that we have another class keeper who is good enough to play in tests as batsman that can help during this lil experiment!
Homer, I am not sure we should be worried about the spin bowlers - there are enough in the domestic circuit but have not been given the breaks required by the powers that be.
MSD neither has the technique nor the temperament to excel in Test cricket. Dinesh Kaarthik is way ahead purely as a batsman-keeper.
But as you guys mentioned, Dhoni is a natural leader and an intelligent reader of the game. The way he marshalled his bowlers in Kanpur and effected the bowling changes, he seems to have that Midas touch. Call him destiny's child, whatever he does, simply clicks.
I'm, however, keeping him in probation, would like to see how he skippers when chips are down.
Will he turn out to be as good a Captain as Mike Brearly?
He seems to have a good run of beginners luck.
Dhoni is one player who is ideally suited for multiplexing. The selectors would be robbing much of his flair if they strip him of his wicket-keeping.
Plus, as SB and you pointed out, he does not command a place in the team purely as a batsman. Importantly, after Sachin, Rahul, Saurav and VVS retire, can we afford a batting lineup that has two wicket keepers?
On a long term, I am willing to bet on Dhoni - the test batsman. I won't be surprised if his batting average increase to high 30s from here on. Good enough for a wicket keeper, I would say.
Aree with CG that we haven't seen the best yet of MSD. If a man can look like he will never get out in ODIs, then I don't see why he cannot raise his game. And to make him do so, perhaps a few games purely as batsman might be ideal, though I feel, Dhoni enjoys the omnipresence.
As a keeper-bat-captain, he justifies space in the team now, but if his keeping drops off occasionally (as it happens with the best), the pressure can be tremendous.
my gut feel is that by the time kumble retires we will see dhoni a better test bat than now...
i think he is going trough learning curve and is in defining phase of batsmanship...where he is evaluating or balancing his technique against attacking flare...
we have good series coming up (test match wise) first with SL than with OZ that will help him shape up as good test bat...
i secod CG when he says that he will loose his flare if wicket keeping is taken away from him...
he likes control...and he feels that being WC he is in control...
Prabu,
The question then becomes, who does MSD replace in the middle order as a pure batsman?
Also, the issue with domestic spinners not having been given breaks is one of the reasons why I worry about our spin bowling stocks.
Cheers
Som,
I think he will do well. Even if India lose under his leadership, I doubt if it will be for a lack of effort or because we ran out of ideas.
Cheers
Ott,
I dont think Dhoni's captaincy credentials are under any doubt. Brearley or not, he will be a lot better than the by the numbers captains we have had and because he is ready to take the risks others are averse to.
Cheers
CG,
Then it becomes a question of his workload - imagine a series like the one we had Down Under and imagine the workload he would have had to bear as captain, keeper and batter.
That is the conundrum....
Cheers
John & SP,
Who does he replace in the middle order ?
Cheers
Cracker debate Homer.
Everything's been said. But my two cents -
don't see MSD giving up on the gloves, he'll look to master them. His take on the game extends beyond a single dimensional role. Also, that no fear angle to him, if it's even remotely true, then, this guy will do wonders as skipper, continue to evolve as an indian icon, score another big 100 soon (in tests, vs Lanka?), continue to amaze us, and unlock India's biggest future players - yuvi and viru. doubt india will rue him.
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