Is it unfair to criticize MS Dhoni as a captain, as a player?
Dhoni is the most successful limited-overs captain India have ever produced and is the best finisher of the modern day game. But right after the surprise series loss against Bangladesh, media are all over the Indian captain to quit his captaincy and also raised questions over his current form.
India is a country where cricket is treated as religion and players as Gods. When a player does well, media and people praise him. If he fails in the very next game, people start to say "He is no good, drop him". In fact, we have to change this attitude. Dhoni is the last victim of our bad attitude. It is better to analyze before criticizing.?
Captaincy
Yes, the loss against Bangladesh is a difficult pill to swallow. But the same captain-cool had led India to Semifinals in the World Cup this year. He is the same person who won us 2007 T20 World Cup, 2011 World Cup and 2013 Champions trophy.
One series loss, everybody started to criticize. It is unfair to ask to step down as captain after an unexpected series loss. He still has a lot to offer to the Indian cricket.
Batting
People started to criticize his poor run of form. But has he done that badly? the answer is no, in fact, he has done pretty well recently. He scored 253 runs in his last 6 outings at an average of 63.25 and a strike rate of 87.24. He may not have won a lot 'man of the match' awards in this period, but he has played some good knocks.
45* against West Indies in the World Cup
West Indies bowled out for 182. India have been playing really well as a batting unit, so it is believed that they will chase it easily. But Indian top order collapsed and when Dhoni walked into bat, India were struggling at 78-4.
When it looked like Raina and Dhoni started to build a partnership, the southpaw dismissed for 22. Jadeja also perished in the chase. Even though, he was running out of partners, the finisher essayed a calm and composed knock under pressure and lead India to a 4 wicket win.
85* against Zimbabwe in the world cup
With the help of Brandan Taylor’s terrific hundred, Zimbabwe posted a healthy 287 in 50 overs. The top order failed once again and India were fumbled at 92-4.
Raina and Dhoni built an unbeaten 196 run partnership and men in blue emerged as victorious. Raina won the man of the match award for his 110*, but Dhoni's contribution was also invaluable in the match.
Run-a-ball-65 in the world cup semifinal
Australia posted a mammoth total of 328, thanks to the new batting sensation Steve Smith's hundred. In reply, India were struggling at 102-4, Dhoni joined in the middle. He started positively and played some shots. Once again, he ran out of partners. He scored a run-a-ball 65 before being run out, but that wasn't enough to pull off a victory.
It is evident that the captain cool hasn't done much harm to his reputation as a captain and a batsman recently. He has been playing in the No.6 slot for a long time and mastered the art of finishing. It is the time to back him as a captain, as a player because this man has done a lot of good things for Indian cricket.