What is Dhoni's contribution to the team?

[ZodiaC]

I honestly don't know what exactly he is doing to help this team except that we are winning a lot since he took over the captaincy. I agree that the same team under Kumble seemed more uptight and not doing as well' date= in comes wonder boy and now we are world beaters. :--D

That's because he has to play more tough opponents away from home (Aus in Aus, Eng in Eng, SL in SL, etc) and the only away series under dhoni that we played away were SL & NZ.

[flamy]

"Dhoni's value to the test team" lollers at this thread. Everyone was slitting wrists when he chilled out during some test series and his eminent replacements papu and katu were dropping catches left and right. Value, indeed. :cantstop:

[ZodiaC]

"Dhoni's value to the test team" lollers at this thread. Everyone was slitting wrists when he chilled out during some test series and his eminent replacements papu and katu were dropping catches left and right. Value, indeed. :cantstop:

When did Papa eplace Dhoni? :hmmm:

[rkt.india]

When did Papa eplace Dhoni? :hmmm:

IN SL 2008 test series

[Nirvanam]

Dear friend' date=' while 15 is a good number, as 15*6.67=100, i completely disagree with defining percentages as cricket is a team game. india simply could not have been no 1 or retained tht position for 1 yr now without dhoni. Just cant imagine it with sehwag as captain and saha as keeper.lol[/quote']I agree we cannot give individual percentages in a team game...my bad.

Its not as if others r grooming dhoni. Lol. He is quite simply the best out there. His tactics, field placings, bowling changes, player management, keeping(stumping, runouts), resolute batting etc are exemplary. Remember the last time aus toured india? india drew both matches under kumble and won the other two under dhoni. remember how he stiffled the runs and got out wkts after aust got off to 180 odd with runrate between 5-6? He commands respect and has confidence of all teammates bcoz they know how good he is and what he has already achieved. Even in this match, he kept wkts for 2 days, with fever n suspected malaria. This guy is as cool, as smart and as tough as you can get, inspirational really. Rather disappointed that sm people undermine his role.

I also agree that Dhoni has the requisite skills to be a great captain and he has been a great one already. He has been an excellent captain and you can hold him as one of the more significant influencing factors when it comes to ODI and T20 cricket. However, Dhoni's significance in India's Test rise is nowhere near the significance of ODI, T20. I think his greatness and significance in molding the ODI and T20 teams is being misappropriated in Tests. In Tests the fact is immaterial of who the captain is (assuming he is decently experienced in test cricket), of this team they will be number 1. The possible candidates are - Viru, Lax, Rahul, Sachin, Bhajji, and Zak - at this stage in their careers all these fellows have had enough experience to not screw around with the natural team direction that they have worked so hard over the last 10 years to imbibe in themselves and the newbies. Yes Dhoni is a great captain...for the Tests, well lemme put it this way - Dhoni is not required to do much. Fair? Edit: it's more like how Viv Richards acquired a team of legends that were already molded to perfection by Lloyd. Same with Steve Waugh and Pawning. In India's case you can say the following - Border : Ganguly :: Taylor : Jumbo :: Waugh : Rahul :: Pawning : Dhoni not exactly one to one so pls don't really compare their captaincy styles. The main point is this - Cap1- Dada sowed the seeds for a great team, picked the right talent and backed them to the hilt (Border-Jones, Boon, McDermott, Warne, etc). Cap2 - Rahul brought in his work ethic into the team and built a clinical team (sadly a lot more damage was done inspite of Rahul's gains by the Paragon-brand Aussie). Very much like Waugh who brought in clinical perfection. The roles of Waugh and Taylor can be swapped in Indian context. Cap3 - Well Jumbo imbibed the team with his heart. He gave it statesmanlike aura Cap4 - Dhoni has definitely done way more than Pawning for sure. But the similarity is in the inheritance of legends that Dhoni and Pawning have had. Dhoni himself was built and modeled to perfection by Rahul and Jumbo in his clinical perfection (the 8-1 field to Aus at Nagpur, etc). The above does not make Dhoni a lesser captain. It is only recognizing that India's rise to number 1 has more to do with players and former caps and the vision the players shared than just Dhoni's cap'cy.

[flamy]

Nirvanam, fair enough. However, I'd also like to point out that the team is putting in much more "resilience" under him than we are used to. He is a natural leader and his teammates trust him. The entire balance works well. However, I can admit Dhoni is much too defensive in Tests, the last test being a prime example. I was discussing this with Gunner the other day. Why didn't we declare? He has become too cautious with his Tests captaincy, and it is worrying because what makes him great is his (former) ruthlessness. I'm more than willing to give him a lot of rope on this one though

[Andy]

Credit for us being 'Resilient' Must go to every Team member and Gary Kirsten too. Gary doesnt get the credit what he deserves.

[Chandan]

However, I can admit Dhoni is much too defensive in Tests, the last test being a prime example. I was discussing this with Gunner the other day. Why didn't we declare? He has become too cautious with his Tests captaincy, and it is worrying because what makes him great is his (former) ruthlessness. I'm more than willing to give him a lot of rope on this one though

And why should we have declared when we knew that nothing could happen on that glass top of a pitch? Why could we not let our bowlers rest instead of putting them under unnecessary work out which would have achieved absolutely nothing? If Harbhajan was negotiating Kiwi bowling so comfortably, you think Kiwis would have been wiped away under 40 overs on that slow pitch? I fully support Dhoni for not declaring at Ahmadabad!

[saneindian]

Credit for us being 'Resilient' Must go to every Team member and Gary Kirsten too. Gary doesnt get the credit what he deserves.

Replace the word "Gary Kirsten" with "John Wright" and turn the wheel 6-7 years back :)

[Sid]

Credit for us being 'Resilient' Must go to every Team member and Gary Kirsten too. Gary doesnt get the credit what he deserves.

This is how it happens,every good thing is credited to the captain(whether it is due to him or not) and if something bad is happening captain will be the first one to blamed and he takes the flak,not the whole team

[Andy]

Replace the word "Gary Kirsten" with "John Wright" and turn the wheel 6-7 years back :)

I think John did well with the team we had then, But Kirsten is much Better. It was Under John we started wining Test matches abroad.

[ZodiaC]

I think John did well with the team we had then' date=' But Kirsten is much Better. It was Under John we started wining Test matches abroad.[/quote'] I agree, though the contributions of JR is a tad underrated, Kirsten is a much better coach than JR. Our batting lineup (barring the seniors) didn't look remotely as strong as it is now under his tenure.

[saneindian]

I agree' date=' though the contributions of JR is a tad underrated, Kirsten is a much better coach than JR. Our batting lineup (barring the seniors) didn't look remotely as strong as it is now under his tenure.[/quote'] Wright's (and Dada's) biggest legacy was the emergence of so many talented young pacers who started coming into the team and did well. He encouraged the bowlers to go and seek advice from the legends everytime we toured a country. Unfortunately we missed out on the opportunity of helping these bowler go to the next level once Wright left and as such we are struggling to find good talented young bowlers now.

[Sid]

India's resilience to Dhoni's value to Who is the better coach

[flamy]

And why should we have declared when we knew that nothing could happen on that glass top of a pitch? Why could we not let our bowlers rest instead of putting them under unnecessary work out which would have achieved absolutely nothing? If Harbhajan was negotiating Kiwi bowling so comfortably, you think Kiwis would have been wiped away under 40 overs on that slow pitch? I fully support Dhoni for not declaring at Ahmadabad!

We collapsed on this glasstop of a pitch. A roll of the dice? There was no chance we'd lose. And the bowlers are there to bowl. There is no "unnecessary work out" during a live game.

[Sidhoni]

Dhoni is the best ever captain in tests.. :two_thumbs_up: He is the only player to have achieved so many things in his short career of 5-6 years.:hatsoff: there is no doubt of his abilities as a superb batsman :--D he has changed the face of indian cricket HE IS JUST THE BEST..!!

[IKnowU]

Why does Dhoni need to perform consistently with the bat? We have allstar batting lineup and we are ripping Dhoni to shreds for his batting :headshake:

[Hindustani]

Dhoni is the best ever captain in tests.. :two_thumbs_up: He is the only player to have achieved so many things in his short career of 5-6 years.:hatsoff: there is no doubt of his abilities as a superb batsman :--D he has changed the face of indian cricket HE IS JUST THE BEST..!!

Sense, Your Post make None :--D j/k

[ZodiaC]

Wright's (and Dada's) biggest legacy was the emergence of so many talented young pacers who started coming into the team and did well. He encouraged the bowlers to go and seek advice from the legends everytime we toured a country. Unfortunately we missed out on the opportunity of helping these bowler go to the next level once Wright left and as such we are struggling to find good talented young bowlers now.

Agree to an extent SI, but I think none of these bowlers made it big except Zak & to an extent pathan. Balaji's case can be attributed to injuries. And still majority were crap back then too - especially in tests. Now we have Sree & Ishanth who are more talented than any of the test bowlers in that era except Zak (who are still underachievers)

[ZodiaC]

Why does Dhoni need to perform consistently with the bat? We have allstar batting lineup and we are ripping Dhoni to shreds for his batting :headshake:

Does the same apply to Rohit also :--D :vroam: