Why Dhoni should continue captaining India in Test cricket
DISCLAIMER: This article reflects the opinions of the writer and not necessarily those of Sportskeeda.
With just a week left to go for the much awaited India-Australia series, the Indian supporters will be expecting the home side to turn the table in their favour this time around after the recent 2-1 drubbing in the hands of England last November. Given Team India’s dismal performance in the longer format of the game over the past couple of years, where the team has suffered heavy defeats in the hands of Australia (0-4) and England (0-4) followed by a rare home defeat against the Brits (1-2) for the first time in 25 years, there will be immense pressure on skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni and his boys to deliver.
Against the backdrop of a long string of defeats, Dhoni’s captaincy has expectedly come under the scanner. A significant number of leading critics have pitted their voice favouring a change of guard, stating that Dhoni incapable is of leading the team in a way they would have liked. However, with due respect to the suggestions and views forwarded by former greats, commentators and critics of the game, this writer feels that Dhoni should continue as Indian Test captain irrespective of the results of the upcoming India-Australia Series.
The first and most vital question is, ‘who will replace Dhoni?’ After the retirement of big names like Sourav Ganguly, Rahul Dravid and VVS Laxman, the team is going through a transitional phase. Emerging talents such as Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli etc. are now regulars in the squad, but it’s quite obvious that they have to be given some more time to mature. The recent form of the senior cricketers including Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir and Yuvraj Singh has been a prime area of concern for the team. Yuvraj has been in and out of the team, whereas the prolific Gambhir-Sehwag duo has managed to stitch together only a single century stand in their last 24 innings.
Gambhir, once seen as a captaincy material for the Indian Test side, was recently dropped from the first 2 tests of the India-Australia series, and has been replaced by the in-form Shikhar Dhawan. Many Dhoni critics are favouring the latest pin up boy of Indian cricket, Virat Kohli, to take over the captaincy from Dhoni. However, Kohli himself is yet to mark his presence in Test cricket. Compared to his prolific performance in the shorter formats of the game, Kohli has appeared to be fairly subdued in Tests. There is no point denying that he is one of the best emerging batsmen of this generation and is undoubtedly the future captain of India, but handing over the captaincy at this point of time will do no good to his reputation- neither as a batsman nor as a skipper – as he doesn’t have the required experience. Therefore, it’s quite evident that presently India just does not have their choices.
It’s said that a captain is only as good as his side. So, when a team is failing on a whole, what’s the point in blaming the captain alone? In nearly all of the 11 test matches that India has lost since their World Cup triumph in 2011, the batsmen failed to play as a unit and bowlers struggled to take wickets. Star batsmen such as the Little Master Sachin Tendulkar, VVS Laxman and Virender Sehwag failed to put sufficient runs on the boards for the bowlers to defend. The bowling performance was pretty flat as well. When the complete team is failing to deliver, where does a captain go? Even if Dhoni is removed, will bringing on a new captain ensure that all those who were struggling for form all these days will strike good form with immediate effect? Perhaps not; and that’s why what needs to be done is to sit and work on the collective shortcomings that led to the team’s downfall instead of demanding the captain’s head for the humiliating defeats.
Lastly, success and failures are a part and parcel of life and cricketers are no exceptions. Thus, when a team is going through a torrid phase, it’s always desirable to stand behind the captain and his team and keep faith in the players who have made the country proud on numerous occasions earlier. Criticizing, rebuking and abusing will only dent the confidence levels of the cricketers even further which is definitely not something desirable.