Mahendra Singh Dhoni: The solution to India's middle order woes
Mahendra Singh Dhoni has been a polarizing figure in the past week. From being a villain for many in the defeat in the first ODI against Australia to being the hero in the last two, Dhoni has done it all in the historic bilateral series win in Australia. He was rightly given the Man of the Series Award in the end for scoring 193 runs with three successive half-centuries. This was a great thing considering the fact that he failed to score a 50 in the whole of 2018.
India's middle order has been a cause for great concern in recent years. The top three batsmen Shikhar Dhawan, Rohit Sharma, and Virat Kohli have scored a lot of runs for India since the previous World Cup and are in the ICC rankings list for top ODI batsmen. On the other hand, the amount of match practice for the middle order has been very limited. There have been instances such as the final of Champions Trophy where the middle order has let us down.
The issue has also been further mishandled by the team management by playing over 11 players in the no.4 spot itself, with no single player being given a sufficient number of opportunities. Therefore, the good form found by Dhoni in this series could be the solution to this middle order conundrum.
Dhoni has been the finisher for Indian Team, having an average of over 100 in successful run chases. But let's not be blind to the fact that he has not been in his greatest touch in the past year. This recent run of form (51, 55*, 87*) in 2019 is a very welcome change. These runs have come at no.5 and no.4.
We can, therefore, conclude that he takes time to settle at the start of his innings and then slowly raises the tempo if and when required. He can provide much-needed solidity to the middle order and at the very least ensure stability if there is a collapse of the kind witnessed in the first match of the series. There was much more intent in his batting in the 2nd and 3rd ODI, which was great to see.
As Dhoni is now more of a stabilizer and run accommodator in the lineup, the team management needs to ensure that the other options in the middle order are capable of striking it big from the first ball. In this series, we saw Rayudu playing in the 1st and 2nd ODI but after failing to impress, he was dropped to the bench.
One man's loss is another man's gain, and Kedar Jadhav took the opportunity with both hands. He scored an unbeaten 61 in the last match of the series, and for the moment, looks set for a spot in the team. Dinesh Karthik, to his credit, did play a good knock in the 2nd ODI scoring 25 of 14 balls. Pandya and Vijay Shankar can also hit the ball out of the park if required.
Dhoni can, therefore, act as the perfect foil for these attacking batsmen and has found his form at the perfect time for India. He needs to get as many matches under his belt to stay in touch. A good IPL would also help in increasing his confidence and India would love to have him in form for the World Cup.