Mahendra Singh Dhoni Hasn't Treated Irfan Pathan Well in IPL: Sunil Gavaskar

Usually a great admirer of Mahendra Singh Dhoni and his leadership qualities, Sunil Gavaskar has criticised Captain Cool's tactics as skipper of IPL debutants Rising Pune Supergiants.

Former Test opener Gavaskar, who has been commentating on IPL matches, feels Dhoni has not done justice to his bating skills and his handling of a "world-class bowler" like Irfan Pathan has been bewildering.

Writing in his column, Gavaskar analysed some of the reasons for Rising Pune Supergiants horror show in IPL 2016. RPS are last in the eight-team league and will play Delhi Daredevils on Wednesday night.

Gavaskar found RPS listless even before the team was rocked by a series of injuries to their key players - Kevin Pietersen, Steven Smith and Faf du Plessis.

"True, they had a major setback with injuries, but even before that, there didn't seem to be the zing that one usually associates with a team led by Mahendra Singh Dhoni," wrote Gavaskar on Wednesday.

'Dhoni hasn't taken responsibility with bat'

Still reckoned the world over for his mastery over chasing scores and boosting totals with his fearsome power, Dhoni, Gavaskar feels, hasn't done enough to buoy RPS' batting.

"The skipper (Dhoni) has been out of sorts with the bat and so he has not been able to transform the game with his big hitting as he has done umpteen times in the past," said Gavaskar.

Gavaskar even went to extent of holding Dhoni responsible for many of Pune's nine defeats in 12 matches.  

"Dhoni's reluctance to come up the order in crucial times has cost the team matches that they should have won," wrote Gavaskar.
 
Interestingly, Dhoni's strike rate of 36.36 in his 22-ball knock of 8 not out against Kolkata Knight Riders is the lowest in any IPL innings of over 20 balls.

'Irfan Pathan has got a raw deal from Dhoni'

Gavaskar also makes an interesting observation on how Dhoni has chosen to underuse an all-rounder like Irfan Pathan.  The former Test captain even sniffs of an "issue" between the two and says Dhoni's tactics have "raised eyebrows galore."

"Even when Irfan Pathan was part of the Chennai Super Kings last season, he hardly got a look in and the same is happening here in the RPS team," said Gavaskar.

Gavaskar felt the left-handed Pathan's presence in the squad could have been better utilised, especially at a time when RPS lost Du Plessis, Smith and Mitchell Marsh.

With very little to show in this IPL, Dhoni has come under pressure to live up to his reputation as the best limited overs captain in the world. Even Gavaskar has cautioned against rushing Virat Kohli as India's limited overs captain.

Keeping the 2019 World Cup in mind, Sourav Ganguly has already called for a change in captaincy. Ganguly has backed Kohli to replace a Dhoni who seem to be losing his lustre for a plethora of reasons.