How Mahendra Singh Dhoni Turned Team India Around Down Under
Mahendra Singh Dhoni has led Team India to six wins from six games in the 2015 World Cup.
Few weeks before the World Cup started, Team India was having a torrid time Down Under. It started with long format of the game where the bowlers couldn't bowl line and length, the batters weren't able to put bat to ball, and the fielders looked like that they can't even catch flu! The Test skipper called time on his Test career midway in the series, and the promoted deputy and Team Director were boorish and upbeat even with a Test series loss of 2-0. The drawn matches were celebrated and 'to hell with scoreline' attitude was on display everywhere. The 'Tour that matters' changed format, but Indian fortune didn't. Forget Australia, the team were knocked out cold by English team and it took a warm-up match against Afghanistan for Indian outfit to register their first victory on the tour that started more than 2 months back.(Full Coverage)
At that time no one thought India to do well in the World Cup. Even the staunch supporters couldn't gather enough courage to say India and World Cup win in the same breath. From Shikhar Dhawan's terrible form to fitness concerns over Bhuvneshwar Kumar, from favoritism theory over Mohit Sharma's inclusion to his own lack of form - Mahendra Singh Dhoni was in the firing range of all those questions. Fingers were raised over his relationship with Ravi Shastri and Shastri's not-so-fondness with coach Duncan Fletcher. Worse, people had started questioning Mahi's own credentials as finisher of late. Everything surrounded over Dhoni felt like a wrecking wall, waiting for it's time to fall over him. But the magician from Ranchi had different plans.
A look at how Captain Cool turned a group of exhausted soldiers into Spartans, leading his team with 6 out of 6 victories in the group stage to gain bragging rights in their group that included tournament favorites South Africa, unpredictable West Indies and arch rivals Pakistan.
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1. Resurgence of Shikhar Dhawan: For the whole Australian summer, Shikhar Dhawan couldn't buy a run for himself. From cricket experts to Twitteratti bandwagon, everyone called for Dhawan's head over an unending series of poor run. With Ajinkya Rahane proving his credentials as an opener, most of the captains would have been tempted to change the setup but Dhoni persisted with Dhawan. At the post match presentation of the last match against England in the just concluded Tri-series Dhoni was asked how he feels about the early exit. Dhoni said that the next few days will be helpful to switch off for some time and freshen up. An out-of-form batsman regaining his touch by switching off for some time doesn't sound the correct recipe, but with 2 centuries and most runs by an Indian in the tournament so far, Shikhar Dhawan has shown that Dhoni's gamble has paid off.(Dhawan Peaking at Right Time)
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2. Inclusion of Mohit Sharma: When Ishant Sharma failed to recover from a knee injury and was ruled out of the preliminary announced Indian side, Dhoni backed Mohit Sharma for his replacement. Many accused Dhoni of playing favoritism to include his CSK teammate over Dhawal Kulkarni, but Dhoni didn't buzz. In all 6 matches, Dhoni has persisted with Mohit over Bhubaneshwar Kumar and the move has paid rich dividends. Mohit has not only picked 10 wickets with a meagre economy rate of 4.41 but with his ground agility has also given an edge to India's fielding. Who can forget that crucial ABD run-out?(Nobody Expects My Bouncer to Come so Fast: Mohit)
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3. Instinctive bowling change: It's not a secret anymore that Mahendra Singh Dhoni is at his captaincy best when he is operating with his spinners. His squeeze and choke style is largely documented, but his use of bowlers this World Cup has been a refreshing change from Captain Dhoni of the past. With Umesh Yadav and Mohammad Shami finding their line and length right for the first time in 3 months, Dhoni has shed his safety-first approach and has pulled up instinctive changes of his sleeve. In the match against arch rivals Pakistan, Dhoni introduced spin from 11th over and by bowling Ashwin from one end and Mohit from other, he never allowed to set the Pakistan batsman into rhythm. In the match against Ireland, when for the first time Indian new ball bowlers were being taken out to cleaners, Dhoni persisted with the attack just to see how bowlers reacted to the beating, and later choked Irish team with his use of main and part-time spinners. With the pace and bounce of Umesh, disciplined line of Shami, change of pace of Mohit and much controlled Ashwin - Dhoni has looked the best with his bowling changes of late.('India Believe in MS Dhoni')
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4. Flexible batting lineup: After experimenting with Virat Kohli's batting position in last few months, Dhoni has sent Kohli back to the position where he belongs i.e. Number 3. The defined roles for Rohit and Dhawan at the top, Virat at number 3 and Ajinkya Rahane in the middle order has made the batting unit look more settled. Sending Raina ahead of Rahane against Pakistan and in the next match sending Rahane ahead of last match hero Raina shows that this Dhoni is keen to back his instincts according to match situations.('Dhoni's Success Due to World Class Batting Line-up')
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5. MSD's own form: While questions have been asked over Dhoni's batting skills as Test batsman throughout his career, the position of Dhoni as ODI batsman has never been undermined. Arguably the best finisher ODI cricket has ever seen, Dhoni is the fulcrum of the current batting setup. He is the calming force, as we saw in the match against Zimbabwe, when he walked to Raina who was batting anxiously in the middle overs unable to get the run-rate ticking. With runs under his belt too, MSD the batsman would be more relieved in the next stage of the tournament.(Dhoni Seals it With a Six)
Last but not the least, here's the man who is sitting thousand miles away on national duty, refusing to go home for a short break during warm-up fixtures to see the face of his new born.
With an aura and work ethics like these, Indian team and fans has lot to owe to this man. Respect, MSD. Respect.