Dhoni's captaincy : Call my judgment premature but,

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Dhoni and his men have left a lasting impression down under Immense self-belief was the hallmark of India?s remarkable campaign in the Commonwealth Bank tri-series More... Dhoni and his men have left a lasting impression down under S. Dinakar Immense self-belief was the hallmark of India’s remarkable campaign in the Commonwealth Bank tri-series Brisbane: Mahendra Singh Dhoni and his men have left a lasting impression in Australia. Eventually, controversies could not overwhelm cricket. The Indian campaign in the CB ODI tri-series was a remarkable one. It revolved around a brave captain, an inspirational senior and a vibrant bunch of youngsters. They shared a common attribute — immense self-belief. Historic triumphs are borne out of confidence. Dhoni’s men were neither overawed by reputations, nor daunted by situations. They played with aggression and seized their chances. They played to win. Dhoni shows character The skipper displayed fight and resilience with the willow, kept wickets impressively and led with a mix of instinct and guile. Dhoni showed character. Not too many sides in the period of transition would be expected to stretch the World Cup winner and the runner-up in an energy-sapping triangular ODI series. Dhoni’s men exceeded expectations. In what could be his last series in Australia, Sachin Tendulkar gleamed brighter than the floodlights at the ‘Gabba when the joyful Indians converged in a heap. Like those special cricketers, he had made winning runs when it mattered. Hampered by a nagging groin injury, he scored them in pain. And new stars emerged. The unsung Praveen Kumar, a country lad from a wrestling background, muscled his way into the nation’s sporting consciousness with some outstanding swing and seam bowling, with the new and the old ball. Dazzling at the crunch Rohit Sharma dazzled at the crunch in the first final. The SCG was ablaze with strokes of delicate beauty as Rohit batted with an amalgam of classical shot-making and sub-continental innovation. Tendulkar’s presence in the middle was a calming influence on Rohit. To the younger bunch, Tendulkar has been a father figure and a role model. Dhoni too received valuable inputs from Tendulkar. However, as captain, the final call was his. He made all the right moves. The decision to hand the new ball to Ishant Sharma in the initial stages of the competition was spot on. All along Ishant, a seamer with the off-cutter as his chief weapon, was considered an ideal first change bowler. He struck telling blows against the Aussies at the MCG and the Indians achieved a psychologically important win. The decision to drop Virender Sehwag and play five bowlers was not lacking in courage either. The inclusion of Praveen in the concluding stages of the league settled the issue against Sri Lanka in Hobart. The ploy to open the attack with Ishant and Praveen in the first final at the SCG also made sense. The tall Ishant extracted bounce, the shorter Praveen was getting the ball to skid off the surface. Perhaps, the biggest gamble was to play young leg-spinner Piyush Chawla, who had not played a game in the competition till that point, in the finals. Given the three blocks of Power Plays and the complications in managing two spinners, this was bold, attacking captaincy. Harbhajan Singh and Piyush created the pressure in the middle overs. Not flustered by the crowd reaction, Harbhajan showed fight, heart and skill. Just about everyone contributed. Vice-captain Yuvraj Singh struggled for rhythm but carved out a match-winning effort in the vital league game against Sri Lanka in Adelaide. Robin Uthappa, kept his attacking style in the shelves for the afternoon, and produced a solid opening knock in the second final. The young guns showed a willingness to adapt to different roles and situations. Making the right call The strategy of playing two spinners at the ‘Gabba in the decisive clash was proved right. The Indian think-tank read the pitch correctly. The nature of the surface at the ‘Gabba showed the Aussies were not playing to their strengths. Perhaps, the host was worried about some of its batsmen coming up short on a seaming track with bounce. Australia, eventually, played into India’s hands. Even as the dust settled on the second final, Adam Gilchrist shared a quiet moment with his family at the ‘Gabba. Cricket’s foremost wicketkeeper-batsman, a pioneer, will not play for Australia again. He deserved a better farewell. Cracks are visible Australia faces a testing period. There is no replacement for the influential Gilchrist in sight. Captain Ricky Ponting is being found out on seaming tracks and somebody like Andrew Symonds is technically several notches below Damien Martyn. The Aussies, for a change, are not putting enough runs on the board. Brad Hogg’s retirement will weaken the spin bowling. Pace ace Brett Lee is still firing, but the side misses Glenn McGrath’s precision and temperament. Stuart Clark and Mitchell Johnson are still works in progress.

[Rohan495]

Dhoni is going to be one of the all time best indian captain...possibly even the best Mahendra Dhonis captaincy is great. He earns great praise but just too highlight what hes done so far is incredible. He made Sachin return to form by lashing out at him.Hes captained the first 2020 world cup and him along with his team have won it. He didnt believe in veterans and that has proved to be the best move because indias fielding is first class. He handled the controversies in a very matured manner but yet was agressive about it. Hes altered his game to situations. hes a captain at young age. he leads from the front. and most importantly hes won us an impressive series. Good Job Dhoni much respect to you man

[fineleg]

Good captaincy by Dhoni. But still has some ways to go and more series to win before being called the best.

[DomainK]

I am quite sure that he will take over from Kumble when the legend retires.

[Zakhmi]

MSD has a great potential captain in him. Honestly, he is superb and needs not to prove his abilities to carry on with T20 games. As time passes and experiences increase, he will become more and more effective as ODI captain. Its too early to pressurize him to address him as Mr. Perfect.

[cochise]

Dhoni can handle pressure...he has a "devil may care" attitude to it. I am more concerned that he stays clear of injury from overwork. The signs at the end of the series was that he was already amongst the walking wounded...hands, back...back injuries are the worst, so the physios should really manage that aspect for him well. He will have a bright future in a rising Indian juggernaut of cricket.

[riya]

To assess the quality of any thing in cricket ,one has to look at ''Tests '' not ODIs. If he proves as good a captain that now he is in test matches ,then i would agree with u . Right now he can be considered as the best ODI captain ever ,not '' The best '' captain ever . Let me see him captaining test matches which is the quality form and is the ultimate test for any captain .

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I am openly critical because I am transparent: Dhoni His habit of being openly critical about teammates has raised quite a few eyebrows, but Dhoni insists there is nothing wrong in being 'transparent'. More... I am openly critical because I am transparent: Dhoni Agencies Posted online: Thursday , March 06, 2008 at 1956 hrs IST New Delhi, March 6:: His habit of being openly critical about teammates has raised quite a few eyebrows, but Indian skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni insists there is nothing wrong in being ‘transparent’ if it ends up getting good results for the side. "I am a transparent person. Whatever happens on the field, I just repeat it at the press conference. There is nothing confidential about it," Dhoni told a TV channel when asked about his critical comments against his own players when they have a bad day on the field. "More importantly I have a good rapport with my team, they respond well to me and that is why they understand me. After the end of every match I speak to them," he said. Describing himself as a funny captain, Dhoni said he loves his teammates. "I am funny, sarcastic and aggressive. Not very vocal but can be if I am angry and I love my teammates," he said. Refusing to rate himself as skipper, Dhoni said he only gets worried when things don't go as planned. "I am not really supposed to rate myself. As long a everything is fine and we are winning, it's fine. But the problem starts when we don't do well. Then we come under lot of scrutiny. But that's how it is till everything is OK, then good enough," he said. Dhoni, who led the team to their ODI tri-series triumph in Australia, said the three-month tour Down Under was a test for youngsters and they passed with flying colours. "It is very special beating Australia in Australia. A lot was said about them and how tough they are in big matches like finals. But it was good to see our youngsters taking up the responsibility. I hope we get a few easy outings now but jokes apart nothing is easy in international cricket," he said. Lavishing praise on the youngsters, Dhoni said having them makes the team stable for future. "It leads to a stable team. You get a bunch that will stick around when you have youngsters on board. Like say, Praveen Kumar and Piyush Chawla. Both are very talented and would be there for a long time," he explained. On the off-field controversies that plagued Harbhajan Singh in Australia, Dhoni said no matter what was written about the off spinner, he remained a match-winner and an asset for the team. "I don't think there was anything he did wrong. Everyday there was something about him in the papers. They used to call him the controversial Indian off spinner here, which is quite funny and I pointed that out a couple of days ago," he said. "He has matured. He is an aggressive player but I think he is a great character and an asset for the team. He keeps the dressing room alive. He plays to win. I respect him a lot and I think so should others," he added. The Indian skipper also made light of incidents of of poor behaviour from the Australian side. "It's OK if a few things go around. We are used to it. You have to sort it on the field. It is in the best interest of the teams if we deal with such things on field only," he said. On the upcoming cash-rich Indian Premier League, where he fetched the highest bid of Rs 6 crore, Dhoni hoped that the money would not divert players from national duty. "I can buy 1000 bikes with that money. But jokes apart, how much money do you need in life? I have enough money to live a comfortable life. I have a nice job. So it depends what you want in life. If you want ferraris in your garage then you need money but I think playing for your country is more important," he said.

[Sachinism]

wow a lot of self-praise lol

[Anakin]

Idiotic. He should be transparent with the team mates behind the scene not in front of the press.

[kumble_rocks]

Learn humility from Sachin , Mr Dhoni ! You are still a newbie who got lucky ...

[atul]

"If you want ferraris in your garage then you need money" can some one twist his sentence "According to Dhoni Sachin play for money because he own Ferrari" he can say what he please he earn that after beating aus , we will watch his real character when team lose consistently.

[sm332]

"If you want ferraris in your garage then you need money" can some one twist his sentence "According to Dhoni Sachin play for money because he own Ferrari" he can say what he please he earn that after beating aus , we will watch his real character when team lose consistently.

with the kind of journalists floating around these days there is no doubt someone will make that non-existent connection/

[fineleg]

Idiotic. He should be transparent with the team mates behind the scene not in front of the press.

Yep!!! Transparency is 1-1 with playerz - dont say all that stupid stuff in front of media. Captaincy pressure will come when many playerz lose form, and team is not winning. Hope MSD can cope with that phase.

[bunny]

I hate MSD more than ever after this interview. Hope he comes back to earth soon. Steyn and Morkel need to show him his place.

[King]

Dhoni is flying pretty high at the moment and it's all good for now. Anything he touches it's turning into gold. I still don't like the way he blames him team mates even when they lose a single game. That's is not being transparent but not showing enough respect to the team mates. He's still a young captain and he's blessed to have blokes like Tendulkar, Rahul, Ganguly and the rest of the seniors with zero % ego. Imagine he was to lead Pakistan cricket team. :cantstop: I think he wouldn't have lasted more than a series. He'll learn over the time and will learn to show some humility.

[varun]

Don't care what he says as long as he keeps on winning games :D

[Cricketics]

100 PresS Reporters Come To Him Ask Same Questions Over And Over.... Few Timez U End Up Answering What U Don't Really Want To.. I Don't Really Give A Damn About Such Interview..during This Time Of Team Celebration When 100 Reporters Are Approaching U Asking U Silly Questions..anyhting can actually come out from ur mouth which u really don't want to say

[Bumper]

Come on, cut this guy some slack. He's hardly 25 & has already managed to win a T20 world cup & a tri series cup in Australia. No Indian ODI captain has brought us the kind of success that Dhoni has brought, in such a short time. He believes in youth, he's the one who picked them. He has the right to be critical of them, if he feels the need to. He is not a fool, he knows berating someone in public is not good for his morale. But it can also pump them up, motivating them to perform/work hard on the aspects of the game, they arent good at. (Havent you guys heard about the famous article Snehashish wrote to spark Ganguly ?) Whatever we say, Dhoni has proved that he is his own man. He doesnt follow any conventions. He has shown that his unconventional approach is highly successful. India would not have even competed with a few more seniors in the side. Before someone dismisses all this talk of youth, by attributing it to our new bowling lineup, remember that India never competed well against the Aussies in the recent past even when we managed to bowl them out for small totals. (DLF cup anyone ?). The likes of Rohit Sharma, Gambhir, Uthappa et al have helped us pull off things we've never managed in the past. I dont care whether Dhoni openly criticises Rohit for his running or Chawla for his fielding, as long as he manages to motivate everyone to pull together.

[Lurker]

The guy has the ball$ to go on stage and talk of his team as MY team. For fans who have grown up watching Indian captains routinely talk of as - WE(that is when they were not saying Boys) - this is a refreshing change. The man is confident to a fault and I respect him for that. Go Dhoni man!