Can Mahendra Singh Dhoni decode captaincy conundrum?

 

The manner in which Dhoni’s team capitulated in three Tests, after seizing the lead at Lord’s on the first of four bowlers’ pitches in the series, may indicate that the team has got it wrong somewhat. The managerial folk have, however, perfected the art of reducing everything even in sport to management jargon. The word ‘process’ was probably introduced by Greg Chappell and it is being perpetuated by a highly paid team support coterie.

 

The management does not have to condescend to explain to the Indian cricket fans at large as to what has gone wrong in a team that was virtually No 1 in the Test world when Dhoni’s inheritance was bestowed upon him some five years ago. In a long rollercoaster ride, India had ascended the heights too, but the depths plunged now indicate that fresh ideas must come from the top, which means the captain and coach must go at least now.

 

The joke doing the rounds on the social networks is Duncan Fletcher has been nominated for the Bharat Ratna by Team England, who were also caught at the bottom of a downswing when they lost at Lord’s while on a 10-Test winless streak before they came across a pliant India in the next three Tests. Since Dhoni has given himself a certificate as a captain who has done enough for his Team India, he should have no qualms about accepting the highest civilian honour, if it indeed does come his way and never mind if fans will be sniggering when it is bestowed.

 

Even so, there is no denying that Dhoni has won all the biggest prizes in the one-day game — the T20 world cup, the 50-overs world cup and the Champions Trophy, besides the IPL and the Champions League. And he did not have strike bowlers of the kind that other captains like Graeme smith, Michael Clarke and Alastair Cook had in their stable. In a sense, this is the biggest conundrum. How could such a great leader of men in the limited-overs game be so bereft of ideas in the Test match arena that the only patch of earth that his team shines on is on pitches somewhat perversely designed?

 

The pity is all the more because Dhoni himself has shown the way by personal example although he is not exactly a picture of elegance in the Test crease. Nor is he anywhere near being correct as to be an embodiment of textbook technique. And yet he manages so well with just grit and gumption. If he had passed on his mental toughness to his young colleagues, who are all looking lost in the Test arena, he would have done his job already. But then, as we said before, this is not a job so much as a lifetime avocation for the world’s highest paid cricketer whose contract too runs in periods of 10 years.

 

Even for the youngest of teams to crash in English conditions in under 50 overs in a consistent pattern of abject failures is unacceptable. Their processional ‘brilliance’ was at its worst in the very last innings by when the excuse was that they don’t have the physical and mental resources to last a full five-Test series. Since winning in the West Indies in 2012, Team India has encountered all kinds of playing conditions in England, Australia, South Africa and New Zealand and nowhere was it able to put together all the parts to make a winning whole, save in the Lord’s Test of the 2014 series. And since the only man to decide on the future is Dhoni as he has been armed with all the powers by the powers controlling cricket in India, he should declare his intentions at once.