Did Rohit Miss a Dhoni-Like Masterstroke? India's Hunt for the Next Captain Genius!

[Downtown]

Who's going to step up and snatch the next ICC trophy for us? Not trying to go overboard with Dhoni praise, I get it, his journey had its share of highs and lows. But let's acknowledge the man's mojo, especially in LOIs and those big-ticket tournaments.
 

Dhoni worked wonders with teams that weren't exactly juggernauts, especially compared to Rohit's dream team for WC 2023 (minus Suryakumar Yadav). Dhoni had this knack for pulling Plan B out of his back pocket, and his field placements were like precision art. Fast forward to yesterday's match, and it felt like the field was set up for an Aussie picnic. Rohit's vibe was a bit muted, and it seemed to ripple through the whole squad. Dhoni would've probably thrown Ashwin into the Powerplay to rattle the Aussies, but Rohit didn't even bring him on for the Netherlands game, let alone the Final.

People were all praises for Rohit's fearless batting during the powerplay, commending him for going all out without worrying about losing his wicket. However, I beg to differ on his approach, especially considering that the team's batting lineup only extends to No. 5 with Rahul. Rohit tends to come across as somewhat irresponsible by nature, and this was reflected in his batting performance. It seems like he's lost the ability to score those massive centuries, and in a crucial final, he should have played more sensibly. Instead, he approached it like a casual gully cricket game, neglecting the importance of building a strategic partnership.

Well, India's on the lookout for a strategist extraordinaire like Dhoni. No shade on Kohli and Rohit, they're good, but maybe not quite hitting that tactical wizard level. 

So, when's the next brainy and gutsy captain, a tactical maestro like Dhoni, going to burst onto the scene and break our ICC trophy dry spell? Is anyone flashing that spark in the domestic circuits? 
 

[Ajju]

Why cant he only

[nevada]

Maybe without the shadow of any big superstars, a bunch of no name players can get the job done for us next WC. Kohli likely will still be around though, and we will be celebrating his shashti poorthi aka 60th century, forgetting that there is still a tournament to be won. 

[Ultimate_Game]

You gotta admire Dhoni - captained us to 3 ICC tourney wins with likes of Sreesanth, Munaf, Nehra, RP Singh, Zaheer as pacers Looking at how things have turned out when we can't win even one in a decade with supposedly "best bowling lineup in our history", you've to admit he did something right.

[Lord]

19 minutes ago, Ultimate_Game said:

You gotta admire Dhoni - captained us to 3 ICC tourney wins with likes of Sreesanth, Munaf, Nehra, RP Singh, Zaheer as pacers Looking at how things have turned out when we can't win even one in a decade with supposedly "best bowling lineup in our history", you've to admit he did something right.

 

Nah he had great batting to support him. Sachin/Sehwag/Gambhir/Yuvi anyday better than current lot including Rohit/Kohli in knockouts.

[goose]

dhoni's secret was total disdain for the result. by the way, that is also what bazball is about, nothing to do with aggression per se

[CG]

Dhonis secret was left-handed batsman and bowlers look at all knockouts lefties are king in odis.

[singhvivek141]

What's gone is gone...Rohit, SKY are out of ODI discussion now, Kohli won't be captaining anymore; KL, Jadeja are mental midgets in pressure games. Shreyas has severe short ball issues, Bumrah, Shami won't play ODI's regularly and Siraj, Kuldeep has no experience whatsoever.

 

ODI Captaincy has to be handed over to Gill. He is the one we expect to carry forward this team...Jaiswal is another one who looks like a leader material and is mentally strong as well, but he is yet to get regular run. I am not considering Pant here due to his uncertain future, plus his IPL & Ranji Captaincy isn't much to write about at the moment.

[vvvslaxman]

6 hours ago, Lord said:

 

Nah he had great batting to support him. Sachin/Sehwag/Gambhir/Yuvi anyday better than current lot including Rohit/Kohli in knockouts.

 

Not really you still have to bring the best out of them and also yo handle the field sets, you handle bowlers. Rohit looked wilted half way through thematch. He totally gave up. 

[Ultimate_Game]

6 hours ago, Lord said:

 

Nah he had great batting to support him. Sachin/Sehwag/Gambhir/Yuvi anyday better than current lot including Rohit/Kohli in knockouts.

 

Gambhir and Raina were the key players. Sehwag didn't do much except for his 38 against Pak in 2011 semifinal. Rohit played a similar innings against Aus in the final but the lack of depth and clutch players such as Gambhir & Raina hampered this team. But even otherwise Dhoni was a much better captain. I don't recall team sh**ting the bed at the hint of pressure and that comes from the captain as the team takes the persona of its captain. We also never 2nd guessed his bowling changes or field placements as he was spot on for the most part. The main thing is the team never beat itself under Dhoni and under Kohli and Rohit, the team disintegrates under hint of pressure - case in point how we started panicking against NZ and had no clue how to defend 240 yesterday.

 

Simply giving credit to the batting lineup is simplistic as the better lineup is offset with a much poorer bowling attack. I would back a youngster as captain - identify someone with leadership & man management skills and stick with them. Not KL or someone with "experience" just of the sake of it.

[Ultimate_Game]

34 minutes ago, singhvivek141 said:

What's gone is gone...Rohit, SKY are out of ODI discussion now, Kohli won't be captaining anymore; KL, Jadeja are mental midgets in pressure games. Shreyas has severe short ball issues, Bumrah, Shami won't play ODI's regularly and Siraj, Kuldeep has no experience whatsoever.

 

ODI Captaincy has to be handed over to Gill. He is the one we expect to carry forward this team...Jaiswal is another one who looks like a leader material and is mentally strong as well, but he is yet to get regular run. I am not considering Pant here due to his uncertain future, plus his IPL & Ranji Captaincy isn't much to write about at the moment.

 

I would look at Jaiswal or Ruturaj. Or fast track someone who have shown the right skills similar to what SA did with Graeme Smith. No point giving it to your best or most experienced player, which rarely pans out.

[singhvivek141]

12 minutes ago, Ultimate_Game said:

 

I would look at Jaiswal or Ruturaj. Or fast track someone who have shown the right skills similar to what SA did with Graeme Smith. No point giving it to your best or most experienced player, which rarely pans out.

Jaiswal is best bet, but I doubt if the PR machinery will allow him to take over so soon.

I am still susceptible on Gaekwad as he looks to me another meek player like KL, hope he proves me wrong.

 

Yash Dhull is another one in making..but not sure if he can leapfrog Jaiswal, Gill & Tilak in the batting order (considering Rinku as specialist finisher at 6 & one keeper in Pant).

[vvvslaxman]

6 minutes ago, singhvivek141 said:

Jaiswal is best bet, but I doubt if the PR machinery will allow him to take over so soon.

I am still susceptible on Gaekwad as he looks to me another meek player like KL, hope he proves me wrong.

 

Yash Dhull is another one in making..but not sure if he can leapfrog Jaiswal, Gill & Tilak in the batting order (considering Rinku as specialist finisher at 6 & one keeper in Pant).

Gaikwad is another guy who will wilt under pressure. Tactically Australia was vastly superior in the final. They had precise field set for every single batsman and bowled exactly to the field.

[singhvivek141]

34 minutes ago, vvvslaxman said:

Gaikwad is another guy who will wilt under pressure. Tactically Australia was vastly superior in the final. They had precise field set for every single batsman and bowled exactly to the field.

We need to look for mentally tough players instead of asthetically please guys who will melt under pressure.

 

In IPL also, we always give the tough roles to foreigners (lower order hitter, death bowling etc) while taking the role of anchors, stabilizers for ourselves.

[bowl_out]

We seriously need to start looking at split captaincy. 

Captaining all three formats and playing an IPL takes a toll on players. While Virat's captaincy was a breath of fresh air in Tests, particularly with the intensity he brought with fast bowlers, he was a very average limited overs captain. Rohit has been doing okay, but 3 format captaincy means shorter shelf life.

 

Have Rohit continue as LOI captain till Gill is ready. Let Bumrah/Ashwin take up Test captaincy.

 

[bowl_out]

36 minutes ago, vvvslaxman said:

Gaikwad is another guy who will wilt under pressure. Tactically Australia was vastly superior in the final. They had precise field set for every single batsman and bowled exactly to the field.

 

Gaikwad is likely to become CSK's next captain if Dhoni doesn't show up in 2024. Rahane is the other possible candidate, but if Gaikwad comes, it might be a good opportunity to see his captaincy skills in a competitive set up

[Ultimate_Game]

3 hours ago, singhvivek141 said:

We need to look for mentally tough players instead of asthetically please guys who will melt under pressure.

 

In IPL also, we always give the tough roles to foreigners (lower order hitter, death bowling etc) while taking the role of anchors, stabilizers for ourselves.

 

And the ones who play the tough roles well down the order such as Rinku and Jitesh Sharma aren't given chances.

[BlueBlood]

Dhoni's greatness was in team structure over individual performances.

 

Right-left combination, variety of attack and also playing percentage cricket.

 

This is proven to get you wins if there's clutch performers like Gambir and Yuvraj, Raina in the team.

 

The idiocy was the only clutch performer in the team was Iyer, Gill and SKY and a 3 were countered brilliantly by Aus. Everyone knew Kohli, Rohit and KL will fail in knockouts like they always have.

[deathmonger]

13 hours ago, CG said:

Dhonis secret was left-handed batsman and bowlers look at all knockouts lefties are king in odis.

Dhawan in 2013.

 

Pant Jaiswal our saviours.

[srgadjon]

Give captaincy to someone from North belt. Players from Mumbai, Gujarat, Bengal, Tamil Nadu etc are generally not so good under pressure. Look at Yuvraj, Gambhir, Sehwag, Dhoni, Raina, Shikhar Dhawan for instance, all are Northies and are big game players and have fearless nature.

 

I'm not from North by the way. So I'm not biased