Dhoni, Sehwag and Gambhir: Start their acid test in the test team

The Indian test team, along with its superstars, are going to display their skills in the Test series against England starting tomorrow. Some of the stars, including Sehwag and Gambhir, are already under the microscope and they have no other option than to perform and cement their place in the test team. But there are some stars who may not seem insecure in the team, but they should be, if one puts oneself in their shoes and thinks with their perspective. Such stars include Dhoni and Sachin.

From Sehwag and Gambhir, the fans are expecting much but they have not delivered anything special in the last 2 years. Sehwag has always got starts, made some breezy 20′s and 30′s, and perished trying to be too flashy. Sehwag of the past had great hand-eye coordination and maybe it’s time for him to show some restraint and act smart by using his experience than his adrenaline to score big and show to this world, his worth. We should note here that Sehwag was considered as Dhoni’s successor for captaincy, once Dhoni gives up his position at the helm.

Talking about Gambhir, he had great 2 years between 2008 and 2010, even was the world No 1 ranked test batsman according to Wisden. The talk of removing Gambhir from the team started then because of his own failures, his failure was the result of too much of shorter format of cricket where he is excelling, whereas his form in the longer format suffered because displayed the same technique. He needs to correct it as soon as possible, else face exit even before this series ends. He was also a leading contender for the test captaincy if Dhoni and Sehwag were not in contention.

Dhoni is still remembered as the captain of World No 1 test side, World cup winning squad of 2007 T20 and 2011 World Cup. Just put yourself in Dhoni’s shoes and imagine being India’s test captain, carrying hopes of more than 1.2 billion people. India got an 0-8 drubbing in Tests overseas. No test captain would have survived it other than Dhoni. Another series defeat against England and Australia at home will surely leave selectors with no choice but to dethrone him and place a new captain.

Now, one may ask who might replace him, at that point. The answer is simple – among Sehwag or Gambhir, whoever shows slightest form against England or Australia might claim the test captaincy. Dhoni’s form in the tests in the recent past also does not augur well for him and his average is lowering in tests day by day. Parthiv Patel and Dinesh Karthik are not only scoring heavily but also scoring big in Ranji matches and can easily replace Dhoni in the test team. Hence the England and the Australian tours are very important for Dhoni, not only to retain his test captaincy but also his place in the test team.

Now, coming to Sachin’s case. He is losing his powers of concentration and his hand-eye coordination as days pass by. If Sachin does not play well in this series, no one has the power to discard him, since he is God himself playing on the cricketing field, but might retire himself because of his own confused mind where he might start thinking on giving someone else a chance in the team if he is not at his best. Already he is contemplating on retiring although he has not made any decision on that, but sooner or later Sachin’s retirement is on the cards unless he scores heavily against the English. So this series against England can well be his last one too.

Now we know why there is so much hype towards this England series. It’s not just because India wants to take revenge on the English, but cricket pundits know very well that we might have just seen the last of these 4 players in test matches if the results don’t go India’s way. So fans please hope India wins this series and these four players contribute a lot to the teams cause, else it’ll be end of another era just like it was after the departure of Dravid and Laxman.