Saturday, July 30, 2011

Time for Dhoni to perform

Most successful captain for India...

A world cup triumph...

No. 1 test team in the world...

T20 champions...

Is there anything Dhoni cant do? Well, this seems to be the favorite line of commentators these days. Doesnt matter if it is Dhoni making a field change, trying his hand at bowling, he has a whole lot of support at the commentary box... But does Dhoni really earn his place in this Indian team? Well, thats become a big question atleast with the test team.

Has he made any significant contribution in the last 2 series? None whatsoever. Has he got any hundreds outside the sub continent? again none. Is he the number 1 wicket keeper batsmen in India today? Doubtful again, with the likes of the improved Parthiv Patel and Dinesh Karthik performing in domestic cricket.

Dhoni increasingly reminds me of Sourav Ganguly. He was supposed to be India's answer for all rounder. Was a very decent medium pacer - especially in swinging conditions abroad. Was ofcourse very good with the bat. But once he became the captain, his utility shrunk by a lot. He stopped bowling, his batting average dipped and every now and then there was this question of whether he is there in the team just because he is the captain. Dhoni is treading into that path, if he hasnt already.

The same people who are praising him will start questioning his selection, once India starts losing and that is bound to happen when the likes of Sachin and Dravid retire. Dhoni's greatness and leadership qualities will depend on how he leads the next gen players and form a team out of them. To do that successfully, he needs to lead from the front, with his performance. It is time Dhoni took his batting seriously and starts to contribute.

No comments:

Post a Comment