Mahendra Singh Dhoni knows his job well; and knows it best when he is under pressure. On the eve of the fourth Test against England, the India captain confessed it was a difficult phase of his career.
“It is the most important Test not just as captain, but as an individual too. This sort of situation comes very rarely for the team.
“It happened against South Africa when we were playing at home and we were down and the last Test was in Kanpur. I won’t say it’s a good situation to be in, but it’s a good test of our character.
“In a way it’s good we are in a situation like this where we have nowhere to go and we have to do well in this game,” said Dhoni.
How does he manage to handle it without any fuss? “That’s one thing I have done really well, whether it was the 2007 T20 World Cup or the 2011 World Cup.
“When people appreciate me a lot, I am not in seventh heaven and it’s the same when people criticise me, because I know the kind of fan following we have. We have extreme opinions.
“We raise the same person to the skies and then pull him down. I always say that we should be somewhere in the middle. I have been quite good at maintaining that, whether we win a game or lose a game.
“So it’s not been too difficult when it comes to not watching television or reading the newspapers.”
Dhoni also spoke on the pitch and likely combination for the Test.
“The wicket looks good, it’s quite hard and we’ll have to see how it behaves. We could play three spinners. You weigh the pacers and spinners and see who might play a bigger role.
“There will be some reverse swing so we will have to see what we go in with. Maybe an additional spinner will be more effective in the second innings. You never know someone might turn out to be a great bowler and a great debutant for India. You have to keep your faith in your bowlers.”
The India captain stood by his team in this hour of crisis. “Everybody was talking about this phase in Indian cricket when the big players will go out and the pressure will fall on the youngsters and we will go through a rough patch.
“Of course, we have struggled in the last two Test matches. This might happen in the future too and you will say that all these youngsters should go out and new youngsters should come in.
“You have to be consistent and you have to keep faith in the youngsters. People who have done so much for Indian cricket should not be judged on a series or a couple of series or on half a season.”
One cannot lament for the absence of some senior players. All the
seniors like Tendulkar,Dravid,Laxman etc were young when they started
their careers and have contributed immensely. While recognising their
talents, BCCI/Selection commitee should also realise that for one
senior in the team, there are several youngsters proving themselves in
other domestic circuit. The trouble with us we continue to persist
with history and fail to observe loss of form,fitness and a little
complacency.If we balance the side with new talent and experience,we
shall not get into a situation when more than two or three fail and
after continuing to suffer with them for over two/three seasons, we
create a void and cry for the losses.It is immaterial if a game is
won or lost. The sporting public will always appreciate a good
performance which offer thrill and excitement.The players themselves
and the administration should be able to evaluate the situation to the
best interests of the game.
We all knew this. Only Dhoni was not willing to accept this till Dravid and Laxman were in team. The way these two top batsman were treated and forced to retire was shameful.
Once again Dhoni has shown that he does not own responsibilities! While he is quick to take credit for promoting himself up on batting order in our world cup win, he is not ready to accept his poor performance as captain in this tour. Nor did he accept responsibility for the poor showing in England and Australia after World cup. Dhoni may be a fine cricketer, but a very bad captain.
To lay the fault at Dhoni's doorsteps for Indian team's poor
performance is unfair.It is true he had not been aggressive as a
Captain but played safe on few occasions which otherwise might have
won matches for India. But to be fair his captaincy cannot be
questioned where bowlers and batsmen failed collectively at various
points.It is also true his current batting form is not the best and
consistent to tally with people's expectations.At the same time we
should remember his stellar performances where he single handed
turned the game on its head by his batting prowess. He also has
never been a mug with the gloves.Those who once doubted retracted
latr.He has ever remained a team man and has been well respected as
a Captain by international stalwarts and was even nominated as
Captain for ICC select team.He was also a great ambassador for the
team with his poise,dignity and sportive behavior on and off the
field.He took Indian cricket to great heights.He deserves a place in
Indian team.
Dear Dhoni,
I would like to say today every person is critical about how Indian team is failing to win on homw soil but don't get bogged down as you expressed this is rough patch sooner rather than later it shall pass by..I M WITH you skipper.
Our captain seems to have already accepted that we would lose since
the two of the four veterans have retired and the top order batsmen
are not performing. This is not acceptable. No one would have
complained even if India loses a test series provided the entire team
gives a tough fight and then loses. That fighting spirit was totally
missing and it hurts.
In this connection it is pertinent to note that our selection process,
whether of the captain or of individual players is not always based on
the overall assessment of the situation. We often have very funny
yardsticks for inclusion or for exclusion of a player. We have still
not been able to have in place good statistical and other analytical
tools to assess players’ performance. In the past we have picked up
players on regional considerations and even today we are doing
selection on similar basis.
If BCCI desires to change this scenario, it can do many things but who
would bell the cat?
A very detailed and realistic comment on the whole tour. He did not
criticise or praise anybody wherever it is needed. A good interview.
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