Why India has no substitute for Dhoni in ODIs
India might have a better wicketkeeper than him or a better batsman than him or for that matter a better captain than him, but they are yet to find a player who can serve as all three with aplomb. So for now, there is no one who can replace Dhoni in ODIs.
New Delhi: It's not been easy for MS Dhoni in the last fifteen months, following India's terrible performance. India hardly won a series in the last one year. But then that was Test cricket. India is playing an ODI today after a gap of nine months. After slamming Dhoni's captaincy in Test cricket and asking for his head with the crown, it was a chance for his detractors to go for the kill in the fifty-over format.
They must have been grinning when India had collapsed to 29/5 with Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir, Virat Kohli and Yuvraj Singh back in the pavilion. But it was a payback time for Dhoni.
No doubt, Dhoni was put under pressure by the selectors, who had a word with him a few days back. According to reports, his Test captaincy depended on the results of the ODI series against Pakistan and England, although it is like comparing apples to oranges. They have even asked him to prepare a blue-print for the next World Cup in 2015.
Call it pressure or anything, but what one saw today from Dhoni was one of the best ODI knocks ever. What impressed even more was the way Dhoni accelerated his innings. Coming after the fall of Rohit Sharma, with Pakistan pacers Junaid Khan and Mohammad Irfan breathing fire, Dhoni stood his ground looking determined.
In the very first over, he faced Junaid's swing. He took 86 balls to get his fifty. Till then he had scored just one four and one six, which of course is very unlike Dhoni. He looked resolved and resilient, despite being tested by the Chennai humidity. He had cramps but that was no deterrent for him. And then he shifted gears and launched himself on the Pakistan bowlers. He took just 32 deliveries to get to his hundred. He scored an unbeaten 113 runs off 125 deliveries. He also completed 7000 runs in his ODI career with an average for 51.17.
Of late, Dhoni might look clueless in Tests, but his ability to stay calm under pressure makes him indispensable in one-dayers and T20 cricket. India might have a better wicketkeeper than him or a better batsman than him or for that matter a better captain than him, but they are yet to find a player who can serve as all three with aplomb. So for now, there is no one who can replace Dhoni in ODIs.