Dhoni's LONG ROPE!!!

Though many of us are unhappy with Dhoni for the facts India failed badly in England & Australia, Poor team selections and tactics, Controversial rotational policy, Prejudiced within team members, Playing hand in hurting team harmony etc., there are certain aspects Dhoni continues to awe me. The key aspect that I’m talking here is the LONG ROPE he provides to his players to succeed before moving on to the next person in line.

We all know that Vijay should have been replaced few games ago in the ongoing IPL due to his poor form. However he got the extra mileage if not for Dhoni before losing the spot to Saha, the next guy in queue. Ideally we would anticipate Saha to take No.1 slot right away; interestingly Badrinath opened with DuPlessis in the game against Warriors. I’m sure the move surprised many, but it made more sense considering Badrinath has been with the team for more than 4 years now and always received a raw deal in terms of position he got to bat to showcase his talent. Thankfully he got his due now, largely due to Dhoni. Either ways Chennai tactics to save wickets in the initial overs could work well in favor of Badrinath’s style of batting. Anyways, we have witnessed this long rope from Dhoni to Kohli at Australia (which worked in favor of Kohli and India), similarly the long rope to Gambir, Sehwag, Dravid and Laxman yielded negative results in the same series. At the same time it must have been extremely tough for the guys warming the bench then as Rohit Sharma, Ajinkya Rahane, Pragyan Ojha were in good form compared to the guys failing in the middle. Similarly for Chennai Super Kings players like Abinav Mukund, Anirudha Srikanth, Sudeep Tyagi are in the roaster for 5 years but hardly played 5 matches apiece. Had these players been in any other franchise, I’m sure they would be more than bench warmers. Anyways, it is what it is.

In the national setup, luckily Dravid vacated the scene, I’m sure Laxman will quickly follow suit for he is already holding the edge of the rope. Laxman will make the sensible choice of passing the rope to next guy rather climb his way back. That opens up two spots which should go rightfully to Rohit Sharma and Rahane. However, if Dhoni decides to pull back the rope of Gambir (it has been too long already), then there is one more place for grab which demands a revisit of Yuvraj Singh (if he is available to play cricket anymore) and Badrinath. In my personal opinion, Sehwag might get a new rope to hang on for a spot in the middle order and he deserves it completely considering he was compelled to open the batting for way too many years.

Going back to where we started, because a captain gives a long rope for players, it gives hope to the players and aids them to succeed. The least the player don’t have the pressure of the axe falling on them anytime but work towards improving their cricket. However, the waiting time may prove tough to the guys in the wings, but I’m sure when they get their due, they will have their time too.

My stand on Dhoni is softening these days. The least I see larger share of fairness from him when comes to giving opportunity to individuals. In other words, respecting the individual’s effort to reach the point where they are and does his bit so as they can clang on for a while. Anyways, the guys who have it in them will prevail, while others will perish. By all means the rope is strong.

After a long time in Indian Cricket, Captain Dhoni gets an opportunity to hand pick his warriors for India in Test Cricket. I’m curious to see his choice of soldiers. At the same time, I’m also curious to see if the rope of Ravindra Jadeja ever ends.

Dinesh

Cricket Lover