04 March 2014, 06:28 PM IST
An anti-Dhoni wave emanating from cricket experts on the telly box and even elsewhere is palpable at the moment. So accolades describing Virat Kohli's captaincy is not just praise; defence of Tendulkar's captaincy skills is not just a defence, but also an assault on the eight successive Test losses under Dhoni (Gotcha: in the Adelaide Test of 2012, Sehwag was the captain as Dhoni pulled out due to injury.)
Why this anti-Dhoni wave?
Though the media feeds on Dhoni's superlative results, cool ways and the stylish helicopter shot, a section of the fourth estate hates him for a variety of reasons. One of them being his clandestine ways of team handling. He is often not reachable by the media and is not known for leaking/planting stories! (One of the reasons for BCCI's appointment of foreign coaches could be due to the strong belief that Indian coaches may not be able to keep sensitive team secrets to themselves). And let's face it, Dhoni is an average skipper and average batsman in overseas Tests.
Dhoni constantly shifts between defensive and pro-active captaincy, confusing himself, opposition and followers of the game. His leadership skills are more suited for the limited-overs game (one-dayers and T20) where the 'draw' is out of equation and opponents can make mistakes in order to force a victory. (So, even if Kohli succeeds as limited-overs captain, it doesn't solve India's captaincy problems in Test cricket).
Dhoni deposed before the Mudgal committee, probing IPL spot-fixing, with a hangover of TV channel promo ("it's the way you run the game" followed by BELIEVE). However, Mudgal was in the mood to believe Dhoni's contention that Gurunath Meiyappan was not part of the CSK team (Considering Dhoni's secret ways, it is quite possible that Meiyappan was not privy to ALL team information; but that will remain a footnote).
Dhoni could have prepared for the Mudgal deposition by brushing his teeth with Monkeybrand toothpaste (trying to take inspiration from the way SRT saved Harbhajan). However, Justice Mudgal proved to be different than Justice John Hansen who gave a lot of weightage to Tendulkar's statement, pronouncing Harbhajan as innocent.
Kohli's men had the opportunity to prove that the absence of Yuvraj, Raina and Dhoni in the middle-order won't matter much. But the former champions are on the verge of exiting the Asia Cup. If these batsmen have failed to cement their position by scripting comprehensive wins, we cannot blame India Cements for that. And yes, if last time's finalists Bangladesh beat defending champs Pakistan to help India qualify, will they be assured of three-Test series in India?!
When Ashwin was not picked for the two Tests in Kiwiland, India failed to break the partnership of McCullum and BJ Watling early enough with either bowled or lbw (caught was almost out of question!) in Wellington. So, any hint of leggie Amit Mishra's big heart and great ability after the Asia Cup game against Pakistan; and Ashwin's dumbness for trying out variations should be taken with a pinch of salt. For, Ashwin could well have given India the breakthrough in the second Test (with so many runs to defend) or score those 40 runs in the Auckland Test.
Sometimes, taking things with a pinch of salt helps. e.g. Despite India winning the U-19 World Cup in 2012 by beating Australia in Australia and captain Unmukt Chand getting an unbeaten 111 in a winning cause, the reservations were in order.
It was difficult to ignore that Unmukt was given four lives in the final by Australia; a case of Australia losing the final, not India winning it.
Where is Unmukt Chand now? Is he among the first set of batsmen-in-waiting to wear India cap if some regular batsman gets injured? No.
Similarly, Brendon McCullum's heroic 302 in Wellington should also be attributed to India's sloppy fielding. A chanceless knock and a genuine attempt to force a result in that Test would have been sweeter and fitting. But captain McCullum, unsurprisingly and perhaps logically, opted for wait-and-watch policy.
Till Supreme Court's next action on the IPL corruption case, we also need to emulate Dhoni and McCullum: wait and watch; and think harder in the process!
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