Dhoni Mark 2

[flamy]

I have a feeling that he wouldnt have been playing so brilliantly withouth the rest. Most likely would have broken down and then be out for 6 months instead.

:dito::dito:

[King Tendulkar]

OK, since we are talking in hypotheticals, consider this. Dhoni is playing well now because he has come back fresh after taking a much-needed rest. Had he continued playing the test series, his performance would have been affected by fatigue and that would have affected his 'keeping and his batting as well. It's safe to assume that he would been even worse during the ODI series which India currently lead 1-2. Non-stop cricket takes it's toll. The reason why you see Dhoni playing brilliantly at the moment is because he has taken some time off to recharge his batteries.

He was in very good form before test series. I belive he could have played well in tests then got his rest from opting out of odi series! I state again. I believe we would have won the test series if Dhoni had played! Do any others agree with this?

[satishg]

He was in very good form before test series. I belive he could have played well in tests then got his rest from opting out of odi series! I state again. I believe we would have won the test series if Dhoni had played! Do any others agree with this?

no DSR Dhoni's presence alone wudnt have helped us win the series..our MO sucked big time and hence v lost..MSDs keeping skills wud have been of great help to our bowlers but still our batsmen werent in gud form to win the series..anyway as others have pointed out Dhoni is playing really well because of that break..he needed that break to recharge himself and we should be happy now that he is playing this way rather than talking abt the test series which is already over..

[Dirty_South]

DSR>Fineleg

[Guest Hiten.]

He was in very good form before test series. I belive he could have played well in tests then got his rest from opting out of odi series! I state again. I believe we would have won the test series if Dhoni had played! Do any others agree with this?

who the f00k was gonna lead the ODI side had Dhoni opted out of an ODI series ? Moreover, Dhoni has handpicked the squad by himself. So I doubt if he'd back out when he is getting the permission to drop seniors and recruit some youngsters. For Dhoni there was only ONE option: i.e to take a break from a test series and I am glad he opted out of a test series vs SL. I wonder what would have you done if Dhoni had opted out of a test series featuring Aus.

[umpire]

>Umpire, >Since you post sensible threads, I'll explain this to you. BCCI has not announced this policy that players can take voluntary breaks. Only after players started complaining of too much cricket (Dhoni has been saying this since the CB series when he played non stop for a year without getting even one break, said so during IPL matches too and then again during Kitply Cup and Asia cup), the administrators of BCCI announced that players could withdraw from the series where they feel they are not 100% fit. Had BCCI said so just after IPL, I'm sure Dhoni would have withdrawn from those JAMODIs in Bangladesh and Pakistan! And only after Asia cup when Niranjan Shah retorted back to Dhoni's complaint of too much cricket, Dhoni came to know about this new policy. And then if he had to take a break, it happened to be unfortunately the test series where apparently Dhoni was on the verge of break-down! >I think he had no option left. And if our keeping bench strength is so poor, we deserve the defeat, don't we? you are right here about BCCI. But Dhoni could still have opted for rest from Kitply cup and Asia Cup. He could have cited his niggles and back problem. It was in his hand, not BCCIs.

[flamy]

Many here postulated that Dhoni was replaceable in the test side. Most ppl felt that way and there was no pressure on him too, so he opted out. Now we know he is essential. He can't do it again. But, with ODIs he was always essential ever since he took over captaincy.

[Chandan]

you are right here about BCCI. But Dhoni could still have opted for rest from Kitply cup and Asia Cup. He could have cited his niggles and back problem. It was in his hand, not BCCIs.

But that would have been dishonesty, isn't it? Players often play with the niggles and unless one can't play at all, he just can't cite these little things as an excuse. He came to know about taking voluntary break policy of BCCI only after Asia cup and then he took a break citing fatigue as a reason!

[King Tendulkar]

I am not now asking wether he was right to to rest or not etc etc. I am asking in light of Dhonis good form against SL in Asia cup and now. Would we or could we have won if Dhoni had played in the test series?

[diegovegaz]

though dhoni would be very very good at 4, he is a finisher, needs to come at 5 but he is very adaptable, if he can stay till the end, coming at 4, good enough

[Shane]

I think he should come in at No.5, a very imp position earlier held by our wall, by coming in at no 5 i think he can control the innings better

[Guest dada_rocks]

Are u guys convinced yet about Dhoni's ability:winky:

[satishg]

The name is Dhoni..Yuuummmmmmmm Yeeessssssss Dhoni..wat a player wat a captain..take a bow :yay::two_thumbs_up: He is the MVP of Indian cricket today :icflove:

[King Tendulkar]

Are u guys convinced yet about Dhoni's ability:winky:

You make my point! Would we have won the tests series if he had played?

[Guest dada_rocks]

You make my point! Would we have won the tests series if he had played?

Bhai mere he himself thought he was tired how can you do speculative predication to the contraay.. Most probabaly he would have failed with bat and we all might have been writing obituaries..Point is we will have to give respect to his words and accept if he says he is tired then he is tired.. let us not equate it with so and s batsmen not asking for the same leisure time..He is wicket-keeper has to go up and down on every ball and has been playing non-stop cricket test one-day 20/20 he is in all those elevens..

[King Tendulkar]

I agree he has had heavy work load. Which is why he should have rested from some odis or ipl! Look at ponting , lee and hayden. All missing games against bangla! Dhoni needs to prioritise but I have strong feeling he is priorising other forms of cricket over Tests!

[Sachinism]

I agree he has had heavy work load. Which is why he should have rested from some odis or ipl! Look at ponting , lee and hayden. All missing games against bangla! Dhoni needs to prioritise but I have strong feeling he is priorising other forms of cricket over Tests!

do you have that copied on your clipboard get over it man seriously, every post of your's is the same it's done, he wasn't there, we lost, now what? lets move on and win more games

[flamy]

I agree he has had heavy work load. Which is why he should have rested from some odis or ipl! Look at ponting , lee and hayden. All missing games against bangla! Dhoni needs to prioritise but I have strong feeling he is priorising other forms of cricket over Tests!

of course he does! ODIs are more important for Dhoni. Deal with it. :-D

[manoj_admlab]

Dhoni Mark 2 Harsha Bhogle August 29, 2008 http://cricket.expressindia.com/news/New-mellowed-Dhoni-is-the-smart-player-Team-India-needed/354689/ There is a sense of calm that you experience with Mahendra Singh Dhoni that you don’t with say, an Amar Singh or a Mamata Banerjee. He isn’t a rioter anymore, though he often batted like one in his baptism years. Now he has grown, he has mellowed, he has become constructive and yet the target is the same. He is more the clinical assassin, taking in the moment, surveying the landscape and waiting for the moment, aware that it can be his. There isn’t the sense of drama, no Bolt, no Isinbayeva, no Ronaldo — gee, more Bindra, really. And this might sound strange, but he actually reminds me of how Rahul Dravid used to finish matches in his glory years of one-day cricket; 2002-05 when he carved fields rather than lambasted them. He gave you the impression that there was a run-rate chart in his head. Dhoni does too, not quite in the erudite, elegant manner that Dravid possessed but in a streetsmart, worldly-wise manner; a jab here, a cut there and always a great sense of the two, the most productive shot in the game. It is a very long time since I have seen a wicketkeeper, even as strongly built as he is, run like Dhoni. And much like Dravid at one end caused Yuvraj and Kaif to play their finest one-day innings at the other, so too does Dhoni inspire confidence and I have no doubt that the mature innings the frustratingly brilliant Raina played at the Premadasa had something to do with his partner. Dhoni doesn’t always speak of his methods, his mindset, which is a bit of a pity, because he is now an ideal lesson in how to grow as a cricketer. But worryingly for this side, there isn’t another finisher of the same pedigree and that often means he has to time his charge rather too precisely, sometimes even giving the impression he is holding back too long. So then, what position does he bat at? For too long, he believed number six was his slot but his current move to number five is just about ideal. In the absence of an in-form Tendulkar or Sehwag, he is currently India’s best limited overs player and quite the best in the middle overs. I thought the manner in which he handled Ajantha Mendis was excellent. He wasn’t always reading him, but by playing late and getting maximum value from the nudges and flicks he was able to generate, he limited the threat of Mendis and set India up for the end overs. Sport always values the smart players, not always the show ponies, not always the bugle blowing marauders, but always the smart players. Dhoni is the smart player India needed. As a captain, I suspect he has gotten away with playing a bowler short. It was a tactic Sourav Ganguly used with some success during India’s fine run in 2002-03, but it always placed a great burden on the four bowlers picked. If one of them had a bad day, there was no one to turn to. I guess positive captains don’t think like that, but Dhoni would clearly like another bowling option and that is what makes Sehwag so crucial to this line-up. With Sehwag and Tendulkar in the side, strange as it may seem, it actually allows India to play seven batsmen even though six batsmen and Pathan should do. Irfan, though, remains the enigma, the perfect link player in the Indian team; the one man who can give it the balance that would make it complete. But I suspect even Dhoni is losing a bit of faith with his bowling. From a distance, impressions can be wrong and this one hopefully is, but it does raise the question of what Pathan’s continued role is. If he regards himself as an all-rounder, it allows him to justify a place in the side in spite of a poor bowling performance in case he gets runs. He can believe he is pulling his weight in the side even if it comes at the expense of his primary skill. So the question for Indian cricket is: do we look upon Pathan as a bowler and let him recognise his great skill again, or do we look upon him as a number seven batsman who may or may not bowl ten overs. It is an important call and it is one that Dhoni must take sooner rather than later.

[manoj_admlab]

Young and daring Anand Vasu Colombo, August 28, 2008 http://www.hindustantimes.com/StoryPage/FullcoverageStoryPage.aspx?sectionName=&id=58389b87-748c-4a53-a899-3718f7648fe7MissionSriLanka_Special&&IsCricket=true&Headline=Young+and+daring What Dhoni has managed is to instill a sense of self-belief in these boys – sometimes disproportionate to their abilities – and this has helped them look the opposition in the eye, reports Anand Vasu. First triumph in the ICC World Twenty20, then a tri-series win Australia including a sweep of the finals, now India’s first-ever bilateral ODI series win in Sri Lanka. It has been 23 years and three tours coming, and given how similar the conditions are on this little island to the ones back home in India, you might think there was nothing special about it. But both the decisive result – Sri Lanka shut out with a match to play – and the manner in which it was achieved were anything but ordinary. Somehow, Indian teams have always found Sri Lanka difficult opponents in their own conditions. Sure, India reached the final of a Champions Trophy here, only to be stymied by rain on the day of the scheduled final and the reserve day, and there have been other gains in multi-team tournaments. But when it has been a two-horse race between the Lankans and the Indians, on this island India have always been left far behind. To say the difference is Mahendra Singh Dhoni would be over-simplifying things, because a captain is only as good as his team. And it is not as though lesser men had led teams to Sri Lanka in the past – from Mohammad Azharuddin to Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly to Rahul Dravid, many men have had a go, and returned with a slap on the wrist. What Dhoni has done with his young team – and it is truly his team – is bring a strength of resolve that you just do not expect from cricketers so young that they barely have a season or two of cricket under the belt. What Dhoni has managed is to instill a sense of self-belief in these boys – sometimes disproportionate to their abilities – and this has helped them look the opposition in the eye, in tight situations, and not blink. Since the second game in Dambulla, India have barely taken a backward step, and it seems that nothing the Sri Lankans did could unsettle India from the plans they laid. Zaheer Khan was unleashed with the single purpose of pulling the rug from under a strong top-order and he has done that with spells so stirring you wonder why he did not bowl like this earlier in his career. Sri Lanka relied heavily on Sanath Jayasuriya, Kumar Sangakkara and Mahela Jayawardene – although the captain will deny this – and repeatedly Zaheer knocked out two of the three to leave the other Indian bowlers in prime position to run amok. If Zaheer played his part to perfection, Praveen Kumar and Munaf Patel certainly did not disappoint, edging in with crucial breakthroughs and tight spells in conditions that did just enough to keep seam bowlers interested. Where the fast men left off Harbhajan Singh climbed in, either keeping his end tight, if required, or attacking with guile and aggression, when the opportunity was afforded to him. The bulk of the run-scoring was done by Dhoni himself, but Suresh Raina showed that big scores against the likes of Hong Kong were not where his abilities ended. Dhoni, after cleverly declaring in public that Ajantha Mendis was "the most unusual" bowler he had seen, systematically showed his team a way to tackle the mystery spinner. With the best batsmen in the country falling prey to Mendis in the Tests, the stage was set for the novices to be routed a la the Asia Cup, where Mendis took 6 for 13. In this light, the performances of Virat Kohli, Dhoni, Raina, and S Badrinath were a breath of fresh air. While not rash, there was certainly a fearlessness that they brought to the crease that sits aptly with the kind of team Dhoni has moulded in the limited-overs game. From being rank outsiders, India will leave Sri Lanka with a trophy in the bag and smiles on their faces, irrespective of what happens in the final game.