The man with a 'Midas Touch' is a tag that fits Mahendra Singh Dhoni to the T. Be it the World Cup, IPL or the Champions League he seems to have cracked it. Before departing for England, he had quite a test record that many Indian captains would have loved to own.
Four months after being the toast of the nation, he find himself in unknown territory. Three crushing, morale shattering defeats and he is forced to retreat to a corner. Captain Cool is still cool about his cricket but now he will have to answer some very uncomfortable questions when the team returns.
Questionable decisions after winning the toss on 2 occasions, erratic field placings, poor bowling changes, wrong strategies - every detail would be questioned by the powers that be and the media as well.
Tough times call for tough measures. It's time Dhoni tones down his 'cool' quotient and adopts a 'tough stance' as a counter measure - Captain Cool to Captain Tough.
It's very easy to maintain your composure when the team wins everything that comes it's way. The character of a leader is seen in how he handles tough times. This is where the learning curve really starts to curve for Dhoni.
It's time for Dhoni to start demanding efforts from his team. Results will take care of themselves. If he has to retain the competitive edge that the team acquired over the last decade, he'll have to take the bull by it's horns.
The famed batting lineup has failed to deliver in all the 3 test matches. It will be tough on Raina but then his ability to tackle the short ball will have to be questioned and support provided if need be. Sachin and Laxman are seasoned war horses but should be pulled up if they're not contributing.
The entire country (including the BCCI) were banking on Sehwag to save them at Edgbaston and he returned with a 'Kings Pair'. Dhoni will have to drill the thought into Sehwag that he'll have to bat according to the situation and not on how he deems fit. Every batsman loves to hit six sixes in a over but a good batsman will give each ball it's merit. Dravid proved that in the first 2 tests.
India was a bowler short in the first 2 tests but there can't be any excuses for the third. And they ended up giving away 710 runs. Not sure whether the bowlers get the field that they want. A tough stance will have to be adopted where a bowler earns a reprimand if he doesn't bowl to his field.
The team was pretty much ragged as a fielding unit. Could be a good idea to penalise them upon a misfield. Diego Maradona used to make players stand at the goal post and have footballs kicked at them for losing a practise match.
Very often we have heard Dhoni say "the team knows what they're supposed to do". If that was true then it would not have been vanquished for 3 tests in a row. The Prima Donnas of the team will have to be told in no uncertain terms that they need to earn their place and not take it for granted. There is a certain pride associated with wearing the India cap and it needs to be re-iterated.
It's a leadership trait. Give your team, the much required space, but when they stray - rein them in. And right now, the team has gone astray and it is time to rein them in. It may require some tough talking but then it'll be for their own good.
All is not lost. The team can still fight back in the Oval test and when it comes to the ODIs, it's familiar territory for them. Should canter to a win but must not forget the test drubbing
Four months after being the toast of the nation, he find himself in unknown territory. Three crushing, morale shattering defeats and he is forced to retreat to a corner. Captain Cool is still cool about his cricket but now he will have to answer some very uncomfortable questions when the team returns.
Questionable decisions after winning the toss on 2 occasions, erratic field placings, poor bowling changes, wrong strategies - every detail would be questioned by the powers that be and the media as well.
Tough times call for tough measures. It's time Dhoni tones down his 'cool' quotient and adopts a 'tough stance' as a counter measure - Captain Cool to Captain Tough.
It's very easy to maintain your composure when the team wins everything that comes it's way. The character of a leader is seen in how he handles tough times. This is where the learning curve really starts to curve for Dhoni.
It's time for Dhoni to start demanding efforts from his team. Results will take care of themselves. If he has to retain the competitive edge that the team acquired over the last decade, he'll have to take the bull by it's horns.
The famed batting lineup has failed to deliver in all the 3 test matches. It will be tough on Raina but then his ability to tackle the short ball will have to be questioned and support provided if need be. Sachin and Laxman are seasoned war horses but should be pulled up if they're not contributing.
The entire country (including the BCCI) were banking on Sehwag to save them at Edgbaston and he returned with a 'Kings Pair'. Dhoni will have to drill the thought into Sehwag that he'll have to bat according to the situation and not on how he deems fit. Every batsman loves to hit six sixes in a over but a good batsman will give each ball it's merit. Dravid proved that in the first 2 tests.
India was a bowler short in the first 2 tests but there can't be any excuses for the third. And they ended up giving away 710 runs. Not sure whether the bowlers get the field that they want. A tough stance will have to be adopted where a bowler earns a reprimand if he doesn't bowl to his field.
The team was pretty much ragged as a fielding unit. Could be a good idea to penalise them upon a misfield. Diego Maradona used to make players stand at the goal post and have footballs kicked at them for losing a practise match.
Very often we have heard Dhoni say "the team knows what they're supposed to do". If that was true then it would not have been vanquished for 3 tests in a row. The Prima Donnas of the team will have to be told in no uncertain terms that they need to earn their place and not take it for granted. There is a certain pride associated with wearing the India cap and it needs to be re-iterated.
It's a leadership trait. Give your team, the much required space, but when they stray - rein them in. And right now, the team has gone astray and it is time to rein them in. It may require some tough talking but then it'll be for their own good.
All is not lost. The team can still fight back in the Oval test and when it comes to the ODIs, it's familiar territory for them. Should canter to a win but must not forget the test drubbing
Good analysis.....this team needs to get back to basics - they went into this tour with little / no preparation, in the end they got what they deserved. let's hope they learn their lessons from this...
ReplyDeletebalaji iyer