Wanted: Dhoni the batsman
New Delhi, March 15: This is not about MS Dhoni the captain, but MS Dhoni the player - the wicketkeeper-batsman of Team India who had announced his arrival in such style that fans were given to believe that India's very own version of Adam Gilchrist was finally here.
His growth as a player and as a skipper in the last five years has been nothing short of a fairytale. His shots are a part of cricketing folklore. India's success at the World T20 Championship and as the number one Test-ranked team have given the fans the heady feeling. And MS Dhoni is a constant in all of these.
What is, however, not a constant any more is his famed performance with the bat. The ruthless batting has given way for a scratchy, unsure patch which has now extended to over a year. And if previously it has not come into the spotlight due to India's success in the Test arena, his lack of being able to launch into a murderous assault on the opposition bowlers is sure to come under the scanner at the World Cup.
The Indian captain was a feared batting machine who could slay the best of bowling. But from the Dhoni at Gwalior in February 2010 when he pushed India's score to 401 against South Africa to the Dhoni at Nagpur in March 2011, when he failed to deliver the goods against the same opposition, there seems to be a world of difference.
Dhoni has gone 11 innings since hitting a half-century and 26 innings since he hit a hundred. His last ODI hundred came against Bangladesh on January 7, 2010 at Dhaka. His last 10 ODI scores read: 12 not out, 19 not out, 34, 31, DNB, 5, 2, 5, 38 and 25. And his last fifty-plus score came against Sri Lanka on August 28, 2010 when he hit 67 at Dambulla.
Thankfully, his wicket-keeping skills haven't deserted him yet. In 28 one-day internationals in the last one year including the five World Cup games so far, he has effected 36 dismissals with 28 catches and eight stumpings.
But with India's fate in balance at the ongoing World Cup and the need to bat deep and responsibly, it is imperative that the batsman who inspired a generation to be 'Dhoni-ised', go beyond the brand managers' views of a helicopter shot and bring back the wind beneath his bat.
News Posted: 15 March, 2011
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