Mahendra Singh Dhoni is beginning to sound like a stuck 78 rpm record. Every time he goes up for the post match media conference, all he does is either defend the indefensible Indian position on DRS or lament the absence of a quality fast bowling all-rounder. He is also beginning to sound like the captains of old — if it is not “we did not bat well today,’’ then it is “we did not bowl well today’’ unless, of course, it is “we did not field well today.’’
It is not the easiest thing in the world to go up against the World Cup champion Australia who are on a hot streak with 16 in a row under the belt after shutting India out of the series with 3-0 at the MCG. If you look at the captaincy issue dispassionately, you would come to the conclusion that Dhoni’s sell-by date was a couple of years behind him. He has been living on old glory for two years or more now.
If Team India are to go to the next level we need to change the captain now. There is no point in letting the skipper run the ship to the ground, which is what most captains have done when asked to head the side for long without the results being anywhere commensurate with potential or expectations in autumn of their careers. Dhoni has had a longer run than many, but then he deserved to lead the ODI side on because of his achievements as an instinctive leader. The problem is he has subsequently become like a pitcher that goes once too often to the well.
If the solution were as simple as getting more runs or wickets or stopping those few runs which leak in tight situations, then Dhoni could have found it with the enormity of the support structure behind Team India. The evidence suggests otherwise. Dhoni is not the man who can turn this around. And he has very little time left on his career clock. If he were not captain, his batting form would have been put under a microscope long ago.
Of course, this is not the appropriate time to talk about the captaincy because the T20 worlds are round the corner and Dhoni is the one who is going to lead Team India in it. For good or for bad, this should be his last assignment. He deserves that much respect to enjoy a free run into the sunset as skipper because he has achieved so phenomenally in his younger years when he won the T20 as well as the ODI World Cup in 2007 and 2011 respectively.
If he and his team were so much as to triumph in the final on that April evening at the Eden Gardens, Dhoni would do well to take a bow then and there. There would be no better way to go than at the very top after having won three World events and also seen India once to the top of the Test pyramid. The point is the 2019 World Cup is a bridge too far even for this athlete even though he may be fitter than anyone else at that age.
This is no more an ego game of snatching the captaincy and giving it to Virat Kohli. There is a natural progression in sport that older athletes should not deny. If Kohli was the ODI skipper and he ends up not winning anything worthwhile for a couple of seasons like Dhoni, his head would have been on the chopping block long ago. By sticking to his job just because the cricket board or the selectors are somewhat pusillanimous, Dhoni would be denying Team India a fine opportunity for growth, new ideas and different ways of execution of game plans. Yes, Captain Cool, it is indeed time to step aside.
