Ian Chappell launches scathing attack on MS Dhoni, says he has outstayed his welcome
Popular cricket commentator and former Australian skipper Ian Chappell has joined the chorus of former cricketers like Sunil Gavaskar and Kapil Dev, who feels the time has come for Indian limited-overs skipper MS Dhoni to step aside and let Virat Kohli assume captaincy in all three formats of the game, The Hindu reports.
Expressing his views in his weekly column for ESPNCricinfo after the conclusion of the 5-match ODI series between Australia and India that the visitors lost 4-1, Chappell commented that Dhoni was “overstaying his welcome” as skipper and felt that the 34-year-old had failed to inject fresh ideas into his team at a time when India needed it most.
“One tendency a successful captain has to guard against is outstaying his welcome. Captains have a use-by-date, after which their influence over the team’s performance either wanes to the point of being negligible or their presence actively hampers the side,” Chappell wrote in his column in ESPNcricinfo.
Chappell picked out instances from the recent series to ascertain his views that Dhoni didn't do much to arrest the trend of consecutive defeats.
“MS Dhoni reached the latter stage some time back. The current Indian side is badly in need of new ideas and different stimulation; when the opposition has racked up nearly 1300 runs in four ODI innings, it’s not all down to flat pitches and wayward bowling,” Chappell said.
“Apart from a short period at Manuka Oval where he encouraged Ravindra Jadeja to taunt Mitchell Marsh, Dhoni has provided precious little inspiration to his bowlers. Sure, they have been inconsistent but the bowlers also aren’t inspired by field placings that are primarily employed to contain, in the hope that the batsmen will self-destruct.”
Chappell bats for Kohli as India’s captain across all formats
Chappell went on to add that Dhoni continuing as skipper of the Indian team in the shorter formats would do more harm than good and advised the BCCI to appoint Kohli as his successor.
“When Dhoni started out in the job he was a shrewd captain in all forms of the game and experienced widespread success. However, a captain overstaying his time can have the same debilitating effect on a team as appointing the wrong player for the job in the first place,” Chappell wrote. ”It’s not as if India don’t have an alternative. Virat Kohli has shown himself to be an aggressive leader and he is also in excellent batting form.”
India have moved up to the top spot in the ICC Test rankings under the leadership ok Kohli following impressive series triumphs over Sri Lanka and South Africa and Chappell is confident that India will enjoy similar success in the shorter formats should the 26-year-old be made skipper.