MS Dhoni: Resting on his laurels?
Talking about MS Dhoni's place in the Indian team has become taboo, lately. He gives an impression of a larger than life character of an entertaining Bollywood flick, who can get away with anything he does. Dhoni's fan base in India is second only to the great Sachin Tendulkar, which he richly deserves given the kind of achievements he has, both as a player and as a captain. But, does this make him beyond performance evaluation?
There is a section of people, who are his ardent fans - this section looks at Dhoni through emotional lenses, he is a demigod for them. They are still living reminiscing the events of his golden days and dead bat the talks which seem to have even a resemblance of debating his place in the Indian ODI side.
But, there is another section which calls for his head, they are not able to visualise his utility to the team anymore. They debate: whether players like Rishabh Pant who are ripe for the limited overs cricket should be held on the fence any longer? Also, they argue that Dhoni is no longer the player he used to be. For them, Dhoni is an emotional pick who should be given the marching orders.
Let's take a neutral perspective for a moment and analyse his performance during the last one year.
Dhoni's biggest utility for the Indian team was his role as a finisher. He had his own modus operandi through which he used to finish matches, mostly on a victorious note. During the initial part of his innings, he used to take his own sweet time to get settled at the crease and after taking the team to within striking distance he used to explode.
Now the problem area for Dhoni is: he is completing half of the job. He takes his time to get settled and when its time to explode he invariably gets out, which leaves the team in the lurch. Though it might seem far-fetched, this kind of situation is affecting the performance and career of youngsters who are coming in to bat after him. Looking to cement their place in the Indian team, these youngsters often come in to bat (courtesy Dhoni's slow approach) when its time to through their bat around, which invariably results in them getting out early in the search of quick runs.
Dhoni's numbers during 2018 (which is a decent sample size), give his sceptics more ammunition. He has played 14 ODI's during this period and scored 189 runs at an average of 27.0, without a fifty or a hundred. One can argue that these numbers can be misleading at times, but, one number which holds a lot of significance for a finisher like Dhoni is really worrisome during this period - his strike rate of 70.78, which is awful by any standard.
This strike rate tells a story which many people do not want to see and turn their heads away. Looking away can keep you ignorant, but, it cannot change the truth and in the case of Dhoni, maybe its time to face the truth.