Time to rethink, Dhoni

With every match, Team India seems to be going deeper down the abyss of bad cricket
Akash Bisht Delhi Hardnews

With greater heights come steeper falls and no one knows it better than the Indian cricket captain, Mahendra Singh Dhoni. Much has already been said about his form and captaincy skills. With every match, the team seems to be going deeper down the abyss of no return.

Widening rift between Dhoni and coach, Gary Kirsten, was evident when the former defended the IPL stint and instead blamed it on the team performance. Yuvraj doesn't share the same chemistry with Captain Cool who seems to be losing grip on his exhausted and battered team. Their loss against South Africa in Super 8's was the last nail in the coffin of an overconfident team that dreamt of regaining the title without much form and substance to back it up.

India's last mach started with Dhoni losing the toss and being asked to bowl. Much to everyone's surprise, Dhoni retained the same team to prove a point about the team that lost to England and were knocked out of the tournament. It looked to be more of an egoistic decision than one displaying cricketing sense.

Dhoni left out Pragyan Ojha on a pitch that was turning viciously. However, Ravinder Jadeja performed well and took some crucial wickets. But playing an unfit (read: exhausted) Zaheer and out-of-form Ishant Sharma didn't make sense to most. Praveen Kumar should have been given a chance since he has been warming the bench from day one and Irfan Pathan should have certainly been in the playing eleven. Ishant bowled only one over and could have easily given way to Irfan Pathan who is a useful all-rounder.

Anil Kumble pointed out that the wicket was spinning. So, Pragyan Ojha should have been picked up and one fast bowler could have easily been rested. He said that even Irfan wouldn't have been a bad choice.

Dhoni's field placement was flawed and players could be seen running from one end to another after every ball. There were no slips placed during the initial spells. The team's fielding must have embarrassed most of their viewers and fans. Somehow, the team managed to restrict South Africa to 130. But, a target of 131 didn't look tough considering Indian team's forte of playing spin bowlers.

Indian batting started on a positive note and both the openers were maintaining a healthy run rate. However, the moment South African spinners came on, Indian batsmen failed to score and even survive against them. Indian batsmen couldn't play the spinning ball and got out trying to hit the ball hard. Dhoni came in to repeat what he did in the entire tournament and got run out while trying to pick up a single. A little later, came Dhoni's most surprising move in the entire Twenty 20 world tournament. Harbhajan was sent up the order instead of Jadeja who was sent at number four against England. This move surprised and baffled cricket experts and commentators.

Soon, India was charging towards defeat. But, Yuvraj again played an easy knock without any help from fellow batsmen who failed to perform or even assist. A possible rift between the captain and Yuvraj could be brewing, especially, after an incident on the field wherein Dhoni (as a runner for Harbhajan) didn't respond to an easy single called by Yuvraj. Some fans viewed it as a personal rivalry as it was Yuvraj who didn't respond to Dhoni's call for a run that led to the captain's departure. Soon, Yuvraj departed and the team failed to even salvage their pride and lost to a team that played only half its potential.