Sanjay Manjrekar goes after MS Dhoni’s head, says not the game-changer he was
November 22, 2017
New Delhi: They say it’s tougher to stay at the top than reaching the summit. Mahendra Singh Dhoni is experiencing the same for some time now. India’s been-there-done-it-all player, captain and icon is expected to script a blockbuster climax everytime he walks out holding the bat. But since giving up Test captaincy back in 2014, Dhoni’s role with the bat has evolved, which means changing the way he approaches and paces his innings now, than from the days of his henna-coloured locks that invited the fancy of then Pakistan president Pervez Musharraf.
Not that Dhoni admirers have dwindled. For fans, he remains the demi-God who led India to win every ICC trophy in the book. But pundits frame their views around performance; and some of them, the latest being Sanjay Manjrekar, believe Dhoni’s place in India colours is now up for debate, and possibly grabs.
“If there is someone outside the team showing potential to contribute more than Dhoni does in his current form, it’s a matter to be discussed and debated, and without inviting angry and irrational responses. It’s healthy for the game and must not be stifled,” Manjrekar, who played 37 Tests and 74 ODIs for India, wrote on ESPNcricinfo.
Manjrekar based his opinion citing some of the recent numbers from Dhoni’s limited-overs stats.
“In the last 25 ODIs Dhoni averages 56.75 and his strike rate is 81.94. In his last ten T20Is Dhoni averages 33.80 and his strike rate is 131.01,” he said agreeing that any youngster with those numbers will become an automatic pick. But added a rider in Dhoni’s case.
“Deeper scrutiny of these numbers and clinical observation of his performance on the field would reveal that he is not the game changer as often as he was in the past,” Manjrekar wrote.
Manjrekar didn’t mince words and went ahead to add that Dhoni “now has to rely more on others to win games”.
“The only change I see in his batting is where earlier he could tonk four sixes off six balls at will, now he can hit only one. He now has to rely more on others to win games,” Manjrekar, who turned to commentary after retirement, said.
The recent scrutiny of Dhoni’s batting has its roots in the second T20I of the just-concluded home series against New Zealand.
India were chasing a challenging 197 to win the match and take an unassailable 2-0 lead in the three-match T20I series, but the hosts fell way short of the target, losing the game by 40 runs.
Dhoni joined forces with skipper Kohli when India’s scorecard read a shaky 67/4 in 9.1 overs. Kohli, though, was on song fetching the team boundaries regularly. But his usually effective partner Dhoni took 18 balls to score 16, which allowed New Zealand to tighten the noose.
Dhoni did up the ante and ended up scoring 49 off 37, but he put his foot on the accelerator too late to change the result of the match in India’s favour.
That led to Dhoni’s former teammate VVS Laxman question his role in T20Is.
Speaking on a television show, Laxman suggested Dhoni to allow a youngster take his place in India’s T20 squad but continue playing one-day internationals.
“I feel it’s time for MS Dhoni to give youngsters a chance in the 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,” Laxman said.
“In T20s, Dhoni’s role is at No. 4. He requires more time to get his eye in and then do the job. But today was a classic example, because when Virat Kohli was batting, Dhoni had to give strike to Kohli. Kohli’s strike rate was 160, Dhoni’s strike rate was 80. That’s not good enough when India were chasing a mammoth total,” Laxman added.
Former India pacer Ajit Agarkar backed Laxman and suggested Dhoni should think about his T20I career as India won’t miss him in the format.
“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 (Dhoni) 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 a lot easier to make that transition as there is a lot of experience in that team apart from MS Dhoni now,” Agarkar told ESPNcricinfo.
“You had a chance (in the second T20 against New Zealand) if he 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,” Agarkar added said.(Agencies)
