MSD returning after scoring just 5

Mahendra Singh Dhoni has enjoyed a wonderful time since he was a surprise – and as it later turned out -  inspired pick as captain. But now with Dhoni’s T20 bashers ‘bounced and spun’ out without wining a single match against a major test playing nation( Pakistan in World cups doesn’t count!) maybe the honeymoon phase is over. MSD being in poor form will only add to the increased scrutiny over his captaincy in coming months. I simply can’t fathom his reluctance to play his natural game in the shorter formats of the game. We have better orthodox players to play the steady role in the middle order(Virat Kohli would be my pick) but few to match MSD’s brilliance when he hits out.

As it turned out our setup never had a proper game plan to approach the World cup.  If BCCI knew Sehwag was injured why did they not have more options for the opening slot ? Or did MSD convince them that Rohit Sharma was ready to replace Sehwag ? If so then MSD simply put too much faith in Raina, Pathan and himself to play the finishing role that Rohit Sharma played so well in IPL and in the last World T20 Cup. To add to the mix MSD’s dramatic ‘Sunny Gavaskar like’ antics in the pressroom didn’t convince too many people. It only heightened the suspicion that all was not well between MSD and Viru.

Complacency in fact was all around right from the selection process. More weightage was given to the hype surrounding players than taking a hard look at recent form in the IPL. Ashish Nehra despite being the best Indian bowler on current T20 form was ignored while a half fit Zaheer Khan and a sluggish Ishant Sharma was taken along. Despite RP Singh(highest wicket taker in IPL + great record in England) being in the squad Irfan Pathan was preferred for most of the matches. Dinesh Karthik similarly was omitted despite being in great touch. Players like Yusuf Pathan, Ravindra Jadeja and Suresh Raina had no experience of success outside the sub-continent but they seemed to enjoy MSD’s confidence more. Raina actually did tour South Africa for one dayers some years back and he was just bounced out by the quickies.  After seeing him hop around without looking at the ball it seems  not much has changed. Rohit Sharma played one shot too many up the order and failed to get going against the better bowling attacks. Rohit admitted somewhat arrogantly in one of his interviews that he had hit out too early but it was simply how he plays ! I’ve been a LT supporter but I find that attitude too nonchalant for someone who has yet to prove himself against good bowling attacks outside India especially up the order.

In hindsight our team comprised of far too many flat track bullies who looked quite inept on bowler friendly pitches. If getting bounced out wasn’t embarassing enough we had to go through the ignomity of being spun out by spinners from South Africa ! I think our team setup is too enamoured by the big hitting prowess of our IPL heroes. As other teams like Sri Lanka( Jayawardena), South Africa( AB Devilliers) have shown there is room for traditional players in T20.  And above all out of form players have no place in T20 games -  there is simply no time to get back in form – especially not in a World T20 Cup.