How Dhoni can prove his haters wrong
It is true that in the game of cricket, many of the good things you do is forgotten for one mistake you commit. MS Dhoni is a good example of the same.
Mahendra Singh Dhoni can be credited for the Indian team's success in recent times as he is responsible for the team's transition from the older era. While teams like Sri Lanka and Australia are struggling due to the retirement of their star-players, India has been able to avoid this downfall courtesy, MS Dhoni.
From identifying and giving opportunities to young talent to captaining the team to many trophies Dhoni's contribution is worthless. In the midst of this, his skills behind the stumps and as a batsman has gained legendary status too.
However, as India gets ready to go into the World Cup, the former Indian captain has been facing an immense amount of criticism for his bad form. For a talent like himself, converting the boos to claps is just a matter of time.
Coming to MS as a player, he is flawless behind the wickets. Barring a few hiccups owing to his age, there is no doubt that he is the best wicketkeeper in business right now. With India preferring wrist spinners in ODI's, Dhoni's contribution behind the wickets is an asset. He has also been responsible for unlikely run-outs and flying catches too.
Dhoni's batting in recent times has drawn the ire of many Indian fans. His timing has not been from the middle of the bat in many occasions and is batting at a very slow strike-rate. Not only has it added pressure to the non-striker but also to the viewers who come to watch his attacking innings.
No one has been as successful as Dhoni with his unorthodox batting style. Being on the wrong side of age, his reflexes have taken a toll on him. His hand-eye coordination has failed him a few times. To be honest, the failure of the middle-order batsmen batting around him has exaggerated his struggles.
After Kohli in the squad, Dhoni is the only player who has been a certainty in the middle-order with the other positions having different players in different matches. The different playing styles of each of these players might not have helped his batting. Apart from when playing with the top-3, Dhoni will always be the senior partner on the crease and will always be under pressure to finish the game and it has affected his natural batting skills.
Dhoni, on his part, may have to try playing his natural game rather than adapting too much to the situation because, in most of the cases, his natural batting will win games for India. Like in the IPL recently, he needs to give at least 20 balls before pressing the killer button. His fast running between the wickets will definitely help him and he must focus on them.
And if he can regain a part of his earlier hitting prowess, he will continue to be the match-winner he always was. Rather than proving the haters wrong, it is for Dhoni to prove himself that he is still the best wicketkeeper-batsman going around.