The 31-runs loss against the hosts was a collective failure. The top order’s slow start, spinners’ off day and Mohammed Shami’s expensive finish to the spell played a huge role in India’s first defeat of the tournament.
But with 71 needed in the last five overs, India fans were expecting a final assault from Dhoni and Kedar Jadhav, which never came. The duo added 39 runs from their 31-ball partnership, 20 of which were from singles.
Though Dhoni’s numbers for the tournament look impressive from the outside (188 runs at an average of 47), they don’t tell the whole story.
His inability to rotate the strike in the middle overs vs Afghanistan and West Indies and the show of no intent vs England has quite a few fans asking for him to be dropped.
@imVkohli if you are serious about winning the world Cup for die hard fans back home, take a strong decision to drop MS Dhoni,the weakest link in the line up. For DSR's go by your gut feel. MSD is beyond expiry date. Take a leaf out of @ECB_cricket 's decision to include Jofra
See VenkataKrishnan's other Tweets
This brings us to the question, would MS Dhoni-the skipper have dropped MSD-the batsman after the initial World Cup 2019 debacle?
Now, Dhoni was renowned as a captain who took bold decisions. In 2012, the former India captain had picked on three senior players – Sachin Tendulkar, Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir – for being ‘slow fielders’ and soon after they were told that under rotation policy, youngsters will be given much more chances.
“We had a meeting and Gautam, Sachin and I chatted and we were explained that the team wants to give exposure to the youngsters here. We agreed,” Sehwag had revealed back in 2012. The explosive former opener, along with Gambhir, played his last ODI in January 2013.
Dhoni is believed by many to be one of the reasons behind Sourav Ganguly’s ouster from the One-Day International team back in 2007 as well. That is despite the fact that Ganguly had scored 1240 runs in 32 ODI matches in 2007 at an average of 44.28. The great Indian batsman played his last ODI in November 2007.
Both the above-mentioned decisions were taken with a vision of promoting the young generation. While opting to drop Dhoni in the middle of a World Cup could be a far-fetched idea and affect the side adversely, giving him a longer rope post the tournament doesn’t make much sense.
From 1st June 2018 up until 30th June 2019, Dhoni has 721 runs in 29 matches at an average of 42.41, a considerable dip from his career average of 50.65, and a strike rate of 78 – nowhere close to his career ST of 87.
With an almost readymade replacement in Rishabh Pant fully able to take his place in the ODI side as well, BCCI, Virat Kohli and the team management should take the hard decision to drop Dhoni – a decision MSD the captain would have taken himself.
0 Comments