Though the Cricket World Cup 2019 has not ended, the euphoria is over for Indian fans. We were the best team in the league stage and unlike previous WC campaigns, this time we were equipped with the best bowling arsenal.
Bumrah is the world's best limited overs bowler right now. Shami had a great WC even though he did not get too many games. The miserly Bhuvi was good in patches but overall he could have done much better. Hardik Pandya bowled smartly and used the conditions really well. The two wrist spinners went in with a lot of promise. However, both could not really set the stage on fire. Having said that, the bowlers did well through out the world cup.
That does not mean that the batting was weak. Our top order got plenty of runs - especially the flamboyant Rohit Sharma and the ever dependable Virat Kohli. Shikhar Dhawan had a good start but sadly his campaign ended abruptly due to injury. We cannot say that Rahul was good but he did okay in the absence of Dhawan.
If batting and bowling were both okay (fielding was great and we were in fact a better fielding side than most others) then why did we did not win?
Now, with the immense super-powers of hindsight, a lot can be said. However, I will stick to what I have been saying since last couple of years. We faltered in our preparation and when we failed to realize that Dhoni is no longer the same.
I can actually feel some raised eyebrows, some guns coming out of their holsters!!! Some may argue politely (others may start a rabid rant) that we did not have a better option than Dhoni. My question is how do you know? You did not try another option adequately. Actually, let me take another approach in justifying my stance and explain why do I think that Dhoni should not have been there.
Firstly, we went in with a weak middle-order because we kept trying to accommodate Dhoni in the playing XI. There were some good options available. Pandey was given several games but in a lot of those games, his batting position was shuffled. Pandey is a good batsman and is a top order batsman. He takes time to settle in but when he does, he usually plays a good knock. He is not the right candidate to come in the slog overs and start belting the ball around. But he was asked to do that in several matches and was later dropped. This happened because the management was trying Dhoni at 4 or 5. Rahane met similar fate. A promising batsmen like Shreyas Iyer was never given an opportunity. My point is that while trying to fit Dhoni at number 4, we made other batsmen suffer and later we dropped them.
But did Dhoni bat at 4 or 5. No he did not!!! That highlights my first argument but also brings me to the second point. Why did he not bat at 4? If Dhoni was included in the playing XI, his recent style of play suggests that he was most suited to bat at number 4 position. You cannot come and knock the ball around for singles in the slog overs. It costed us the game against England. Moreover, Dhoni managed to put totals that we could defend only because of our strong bowling attack. This shuffling and lack of clarity on his position made our game plan look extremely random and ad hoc.
My third point is regarding wicket-keeping. Dhoni - without any doubt - is the best keeper for spin bowling. He is quick and he also gives a lot of suggestions to the bowlers. But overall, is he as effective as he used to be? Some stats that I looked at (a week ago), suggested that Dhoni gave away most runs in byes. In the semi-finals against New Zealand, he dropped a difficult chance against Ross Taylor. Taylor was 32 at that time and was struggling. After getting a life, Taylor went on to add another 40 runs. May be that could have changed the result. We would never know. I agree that the chance was difficult but in semi-finals, you have to grab the half-chances. Something that Guptill did when he sent Dhoni and Indian team packing with a direct hit. Not only the WCs, even before that - in IPL and in the matches against Australia and New Zealand, Dhoni did not do anything special with the gloves. Now, it can be questioned that how do we know that someone else - Karthik or Pant - would have faired better. We do not know but if we had started testing Pant 2 years back, he surely could have done well. And Pant brings a balance to the side.
Next argument that a lot of people come up with is that Dhoni is a specialist when it comes to DRS reviews. I would just point that he proved to be wrong on 3 occasions during the WC 2019.
Another point that Dhoni fans make is that Dhoni actually makes all the decisions and Kohli is only a pseudo captain, who cannot operate without Dhoni. Firstly, Kohli-led Indian team has become the top test side so there is no question of his dependency on Dhoni. Secondly, if Dhoni was making all the calls, why are his fans now blaming Kohli for 'sending' Dhoni at number 7 position in the semi-final match against New Zealand in World Cup 2019? Basically, they are saying that if the decision is right, Dhoni must have made it but if it is wrong, its because of Kohli!!! Such flawed and absurd logic!!!
Another point that I would like to put forward is that Dhoni seems to have become slow or his ability to judge a run has probably gone down. He was run-out during the IPL 2019 finals and was again run out in the WC 2019 semi-finals. Age, may be?
Also, Dhoni's ability to plan spin seems to have taken a hit. He was stumped in the match against Afghanistan and got a life or two in the match against West Indies.
To sum up, I would say that Dhoni had not done anything special in the last two years to command a position in the side. The selectors and the management seem to have gone with reputation. Once, several years back, he played a great innings in a WC final but does that mean that you would walk into the side 8 years later without doing anything special? If we had to go with reputation then Yuvi should have played the 2015 WC. As mentioned above, Dhoni fans argue his valuable inputs and credit Dhoni for wickets taken by spinners because he told them what to do. Do they give credit to Sachin for Dhoni's innings in WC 2011 final? After all, it was Sachin who suggested that Dhoni should bat before Yuvi.
Some people are saying that Dhoni should not retire as he mentors the young players and should continue to do that. So if Dhoni continues to keep wickets, how will that help Pant in gaining experience and maturity as a wicket-keeper? If Dhoni bats at 6 or 7, how is that helping a young batsman - who could have batted at that spot - learn anything?
Every good thing comes to an end and must come to an end. Dhoni is definitely one of the best players India has produced. However, he is no longer the player he used to be and that is okay. It happens with everyone. We must look beyond him and give a good run to players who can make it to the next WC side. Dhoni preached through press conference and his indirectly produced biopic that the players who are no longer suitable should make way for new players. While I have always maintained that legends should get a farewell but Dhoni changed that. Several legends did not get a proper send-off under him. Why should the stance be any different for him? He will not play the next WC and must hang his boots. He would always be respected and would be missed but it is time for him, us and Indian cricket to move on.
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