Dhoni-A player that has unneccesary control over the indian team

[prince40]

Can anyone produce some statistics showing Dhonis average in last 5 test matches?? It seems, with the support of never ending sponsor list he is increasingly trying to mould himself as some next "Godfather" of Indian playing 11. First long hair, then short hair, overdose of sponsors has made him, undesrvedly high, he needs to to be brough down to earth. As far as a wicketkeepr-batsman for Test matches are concerned, how Dinesh Karthik or Parthiv Patel are any less than Dhoni?? -- except that they have no sponsor backing??

dhobi:giggle:

[Guest HariSampath]

Dhoni is a fantastic cricketer for India and has a very shrewd cricketing brain, we all have seen that. And the fact remains that he IS the Indian ODI captain and has every right to have a say in selection, afterall he has to take the team out into the field and win. As someone pointed out, it is he who is going to get flak when we lose ( and we do lose often to Aus in ODI) so why shouldnt he have a say in selection matters. Like Anil had a say in test matches and firmly insisted on Sehwag going even when he was not in the 24, and see now we all agree that decision has won a match for us in Perth. Similarily, Dhoni has a right, he has got what he wanted and now he has to deliver. Senior pros like Dravid , VVS and Ganguly too should take things in right spirit and focus on their test career now that their ODI careers are practically over, and show all fans that they are still good at the test level. That is the professional way to react and not stat bickering now that team is already announced and the way to go is forward and not back.

[Guest HariSampath]

And as to Dhoni wanting a certain type of team, this is nothing new. Sachin has done it before ( Agarkar)...Dravid has done it and so has Ganguly. It happens all the time in Indian cricket and also in world cricket, I cant understand what all the fuss is now because Dhoni asks for some players in team.

[King Tendulkar]

Dhoni does have exaggerated importance. He is decent in limited overs but in tests he has a lot to prove. Is he a better batter in tests then karthink and Patel? Really not sure. But hype machine give him status of a Sachin, Dravid and Kumble

[Sachinism]

Dhoni is a fantastic cricketer for India and has a very shrewd cricketing brain, we all have seen that. And the fact remains that he IS the Indian ODI captain and has every right to have a say in selection, afterall he has to take the team out into the field and win. As someone pointed out, it is he who is going to get flak when we lose ( and we do lose often to Aus in ODI) so why shouldnt he have a say in selection matters. Like Anil had a say in test matches and firmly insisted on Sehwag going even when he was not in the 24, and see now we all agree that decision has won a match for us in Perth. Similarily, Dhoni has a right, he has got what he wanted and now he has to deliver. Senior pros like Dravid , VVS and Ganguly too should take things in right spirit and focus on their test career now that their ODI careers are practically over, and show all fans that they are still good at the test level. That is the professional way to react and not stat bickering now that team is already announced and the way to go is forward and not back.

some good points there but i still feel ganguly should be given more chances in ODI's

[Guest HariSampath]

^ sure , why not, let him get his fielding in top order, fitness levels up, improve his strike rate and running between wkts, and prove himself as conforming to those standards and there should be no discrimination based on age. If he is better in all these aspects than a 20 year old, so be it. But at the given moment he has no place in the ODI side, and has to force his way in...but looks like he himself has decided to focus on tests and has said his ODI career is over I think ( not sure), but he has not officially announced retirement from ODIs

[Guest HariSampath]

Dhoni does have exaggerated importance. He is decent in limited overs but in tests he has a lot to prove. Is he a better batter in tests then karthink and Patel? Really not sure. But hype machine give him status of a Sachin, Dravid and Kumble

He has the "status of Sachin" only in an overall context and fan following, brand image etc, NOT as a batter. But you cant ignore the fact that Dhoni is an excellent keeper now, and his batting has certainly been very good in tests from the England tour itself. At home too against Pakistan he played so many very useful knocks and in fact helped us win Delhi test . Far better than Parthiv and KKD I would say in recent tests, and Dhoni as a ODI player needs no introduction, he is one of the best ODI batters in India and one of the hardest hitters in the world.

[Sachinism]

Dhoni started out as a good batsman and improved, but lately he hasnt played any big innings and has faltered too at times when we need him there to rebuild the innings

[Mr. Wicket]

Back the captain. A captain's always more effective when he's leading a team on the field that he's comfortable leading, and one that's comfortable under him. And really, what has Laxman done to even merit thoughts of a recall in the last couple of years? Ganguly has been sluggish as a batsman and Australia may not be the place for his method of opening to be effective. And with a packed schedule, let him rest and maybe play more at home or in more seam friendly conditions with slower pitches and lower scores expected, rather than big 300+ totals on belters. Best of luck to MSD this series - hopefully he can learn from Kumble's efforts in the tests and remain positive and proactive right through.

[maaki]

I think the selectors have the right idea.. What after a year or 2 when Tendulkar/Rahul and Gangly will retire.. Do we have a replacement plan.. One day matches are the only way we can ease fresh talent into the side.. Otherwise in another 2 years we will be the bottom of the cricketing heap... If we keep sticking to these old hogs who run singles where 2s are due or 2s where 3s and can barely field.. we are killing indian crickets future. This is a good time to give future a chance.. We may falter but in the process if we find a couple of good replacements i think it is a chance we should take. This was what Greg tried but i guess politics got in the way and look what happened in the world cup.. Ganguly, Dravid, Tendulkar and Kumble killed us in the 1st round.. and the Dhonis young blood won us the 20-20 world cup..Goes to show we have serious talent but they need a chance.. I am very optimistic of Rohit Sharma.. He has good technique and temparament.. The only thing i am not in agreement is why keep Tendulkar and drop ganguly.. if he may not be around for next world cup.. dont get me wrong i am a tendulkar fan..

I dont think Dhoni deserves to be the voice of indian cricket. He might have been the captain while India won the 20 20 cricket competetion but if you think about it 20 20 is a game of luck in a way. His record is good in ODI's but has not made that much significant contributions outside of India. This guy basically had control over the non-inclusion of stars such as Ganguly' date=' Dravid, and Laxman in the ODI team. Why does he have the right to do that? who the hell is he.Why does he deserve to be Vice Captain over guys like Laxman in test cricket .This guy can never be equal to any of these 3 in a batting pedigree or even class. Some of you may argue that he has tremendous will power...but which player doesnt. His technique is faulty, often gets stuck in predicaments whether to be agressive or not, but yet hes become the voice of Indian ODI cricket.[/quote']