Former India captain MS Dhoni is in the radar of former players as well as critics for his fading batting prowess in T20 Cricket. After he put another ordinary performance against New Zealand at Rajkot on Saturday, many former players are on the opinion that it was time for Team India to look for other options in Twenty20 cricket.
Chasing a mammoth 197 in the second T20I at Rajkot on Saturday, India fell short of the target by 40 runs. Dhoni joined Kohli at the crease when India were 67/4 in 9.1 overs. While Kohli was hitting boundaries at will, the former India captain was finding it difficult to get going. Dhoni scored first four runs in 5 balls, he was on 8 after playing 9 balls and took 18 balls to score 16, which shifted the momentum in New Zealand’s favour.
Throughout the innings, Dhoni found it difficult to get going and that pushed the required rate up for the hosts.
Till the 15th over of the Indian innings, Dhoni’s scoring rate was less than 100 (16 off 18 balls) and that just left too much for India to do in the last few overs of the game and home side ended up to be on the losing side.
The below par batting of one of the best finisher of the world cricket didn’t go well with many, as former players like VVS Laxman and Ajit Agarkar openly criticised him.
“In T20s, MS Dhoni’s role is at No 4. He requires more time to get his eye in and then do the job. But today [Saturday] was a classical example because when Virat Kohli was batting, Dhoni had to give strike to Kohli. Kohli’s strike rate was 160, MS Dhoni’s strike rate was 80. That’s not good enough when India were chasing a mammoth total,” Laxman said in a post-match show.
“I still feel it’s time for MS Dhoni to give youngsters a chance in T20 format. It will be an opportunity for a youngster to blossom and get confidence playing international cricket. He is definitely an integral part of ODI cricket,” he added.
“I think India must now look at other options, at least in T20Is. In one-day cricket, they seem to be happy with the role that he is playing. When you were the captain of the side, it was different. But just as a batsman, will India miss him, I don’t think so. In T20 cricket, it is lot easier to make that transition as there is lot of experience in that team apart from MS Dhoni now,” Agarkar told.
“You had a chance (in the second T20 against New Zealand) if he (Dhoni) had got going immediately but that has been his problem for a while now. It’s not tonight or over the last few games. He takes a little bit of time to settle down and in twenty 20 cricket, there is no time,” he said.
“I heard people say that he should bat at different number, but he came into bat in the 10th over in this match. How many times you get to bat 10 overs in T20 cricket and in my opinion, there was enough time,” Agarkar added.
Though, in last two years Dhoni T20 record is nothing less than extraordinary. In 82 T20 International matches, Dhoni has scored 1281 runs at an average of 35.58, with just a half-century to his name. Since January 2016, he has managed 407 runs at an average of 40.70 in 30 matches. Even in team losses, he has averaged 34.83 which increases to 47 in the 2nd innings of a defeat. His strike rate too is at an impressive 128.94 in losses.
So why are the cruel glares staring down at him?
The reason lies in the way he used to bat these days.
Indian team at present, has players like Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli who can anchor the innings to perfection and the reason Dhoni has been thrust down the order is because the team needs a finisher who can ably support the Hardik Pandyas and Shreyas Iyers. But now Dhoni is finding it rather difficult to finish innings with a sky high strike rate. He takes too much time to settle down and that cost India dearly, particularly in high scoring matches.
In the One Day Internationals, where the number of overs matches Dhoni’s renewed style of play, his impact can not be questioned. But in the T20s, when knocks of 8 runs in 22 balls become a common phenomena, it is time to wonder whether Dhoni does deserve a spot in the playing eleven.
