New ODI rules and faulty bowling shackle Dhoni

[rkt.india]

MS Dhoni walked slowly near the boundary of the Mahinda Rajapaksa International Cricket Stadium near Hambantota, the notorious wind howling across from the forest behind him. But his thoughts were on something else, his eyes warily sizing up the outfield, easily one of the biggest in international cricket. His first reaction: "It will be very difficult to stop twos and threes on this ground." It was an instant, momentary glimpse into how Dhoni's mind works. Almost immediately, he moved on to pleasantries about the remoteness of the area. The Hambantota trip was in July 2012. Already, the introduction of two new balls had snatched away reverse swing and the last remaining signs of attacking spin bowling in ODIs. With specialist bowlers who have made him lament the absence of Yuvraj Singh's part-time slow left-armers, Dhoni's problems were to be aggravated, especially in home conditions: A couple of months later, the maximum number of deep fielders was reduced to four from five. For a man who won the World Cup with an ageing team, and two years later, the Champions Trophy with a raw squad, this new combination of unreliable bowlers and unfavourable rules poses a daunting challenge. Dhoni's limited-overs captaincy, and by unfortunate extension, at times his Test captaincy, is about damage control. He hates conceding runs. Not that other captains enjoy giving them away, but in Dhoni's case, it is the core philosophy of how he operates. At times, a fumble or a late reaction from a deep fielder will make him punch one gloved hand with the other in frustration. You will seldom see a similar reaction from him for a dropped catch. Dhoni does not take wickets to restrict runs. He restricts runs to take wickets. That is why he likes and backs Ravindra Jadeja so much. That is why he has so much time for Pragyan Ojha, in Tests. He waits and waits for an opportunity and then moves in like a boa constrictor. As soon as the Australia openers fell in Mohali, he turned to Jadeja and Yuvraj, who darted the ball in backed by a packed leg-side field. The runs dried out. The asking-rate increased. Australia lost crucial middle-order wickets. The Dhoni formula seemed to be working again, till James Faulkner v Ishant Sharma happened. It is easy to label him defensive, but there is a contributing factor to why his style is the way it is. Dhoni's never had the kind of ODI bowlers who can consistently deliver wickets without going for runs. He does not have a Mitchell Johnson who can run through a line-up with extreme pace and bounce. He does not have a Saeed Ajmal who can contain as well as strike reliably. When he's found someone like a Bhuvneshwar Kumar, who delivers more often than not with the new ball, he's given him extended spells at the start. Bhuvneshwar is a limited bowler at the moment, and Dhoni tries to maximise his strength with the new ball. But even a Bhuvneshwar is a rarity for Dhoni. Over a large period of his captaincy, Dhoni also had the headache of where to hide several slow men on the field. Though India's young batsmen have upped the standards considerably, Dhoni still has to deal with where to place R Ashwin and Ishant - both not exactly assets on the field. One wonders his plight if he had to operate under the restriction of four deep fielders with some of the older sides he's led. The India captain has been quite vocal about his discomfort with the new rule that has compounded his worries of minimising the damage his bowlers frequently inflict upon his batsmen. Five deep fielders were about the only hedge Dhoni had against bowlers who regularly panic and lose their discipline at the death. For a captain who isn't comfortable with "spoon-feeding" bowlers, he's increasingly started to run to them when they do the exact opposite of what the field is set for, which is often. His exasperation was clear at the toss in Mohali where he said something to the tune of "I don't know what they want us to do" with all the new rules. The impact is being felt acutely in home ODIs played on placid pitches. India have already lost six of 11 home games in the past year playing with four deep fielders. Over the same period between 2011 and 2012, they'd lost one in ten matches at home. With one less man to protect the boundary, Dhoni has a serious challenge on his hands and it will have to be somehow tackled on the field working with the same set of bowlers. Having probably the most powerful ODI batting line-up has worked as an insurance against profligate bowlers in the past but it might no longer suffice.

http://www.espncricinfo.com/india-v-australia-2013-14/content/story/680935.html

[express bowling]

If these new rules Don't make the selectors madly search for strike bowlers and make Dhoni madly request for wicket takers ..... nothing will. It seems that he is walking the other way.

[TheWall]

if not fast bowlers at least bolwers like Kumble who can take wicket is required for INDIA now..

[rkt.india]

if not fast bowlers at least bolwers like Kumble who can take wicket is required for INDIA now..

People do not become Kumble overnight. Identifying the right personnel is important whether a spinner or pacer. Need to back a guy like Rahul Sharma for LOI cricket or others like who bowls more accurately, stumps to stumps.

[express bowling]

People do not become Kumble overnight. Identifying the right personnel is important whether a spinner or pacer. Need to back a guy like Rahul Sharma for LOI cricket or others like who bowls more accurately' date=' stumps to stumps.[/quote'] Talent identification ,as far as bowlers are concerned, seems to have gone out of the window. We are backing talentless bowlers.

[rkt.india]

Talent identification ,as far as bowlers are concerned, seems to have gone out of the window. We are backing talentless bowlers.

But Dhoni says these are the most talented guys we are playing.

[express bowling]

But Dhoni says these are the most talented guys we are playing.

Dhoni seems to have no understanding of bowling talent or he is a delight of conspiracy theorists.

[jf1gp_1]

Dhoni seems to have no understanding of bowling talent or he is a delight of conspiracy theorists.

Right; having won everything he can now he doesn't understand how to spot bowling talent. Buddy give out selectors and captain some credit they understand who are the best and wont throw a random name who might have impressed you with a 4 over spell against domestic batsman. I so clearly remember so much hype for Gony after his ipl success, he looked crap in international. Unadkat unless he has improved like hell there is no way he will survive for long. India selectors have more or less given opportunist to any and every possible bowling potential. Just accept we don't have any and move on.

[rkt.india]

Right; having won everything he can now he doesn't understand how to spot bowling talent. Buddy give out selectors and captain some credit they understand who are the best and wont throw a random name who might have impressed you with a 4 over spell against domestic batsman. I so clearly remember so much hype for Gony after his ipl success' date=' he looked crap in international. Unadkat unless he has improved like hell there is no way he will survive for long. India selectors have more or less given opportunist to any and every possible bowling potential. Just accept we don't have any and move on.[/quote'] How many matches Gony played for India after all? 2 matches on the flattest of the tracks where every bowler was thrashed where even Raina scored a century and he still did not look the worst. Why didn't Dhoni back Gony the way he is doing now?

[jf1gp_1]

How many matches Gony played for India after all? 2 matches on the flattest of the tracks where every bowler was thrashed where even Raina scored a century and he still did not look the worst. Why didn't Dhoni back Gony the way he is doing now?

Do you honestly believe dhoni has some personal vendetta against Gony or any other promising bowler that he continues playing vinay or ishant. For someone like dhoni who keeps his mouth shut more tightly than our PM to come and talk about bowler just showed his frustration. My point is unlike others on this board I still have faith in the guy who won us world cups and got us to no 1 test ranking, to select best of the lot. can't we accept we just don't have any bowlers.

[Sachinism]

So from the practice sessions for slog overs our bowlers have learnt, if in doubt dig it in :facepalm:

[saneindian]

Are RKT simple answer hai re, in 2008 Srini was not as powerful :--D

[saneindian]

Just a month back when the A side was winning nearly everything, things looked so great for Indian cricket, selectors were doing a great job, we were on the right track, BCCI wa sgreat for giving so many A tours. 2 losses and everything with Indian cricket is wrong!

[CG]

Do you honestly believe dhoni has some personal vendetta against Gony or any other promising bowler that he continues playing vinay or ishant. For someone like dhoni who keeps his mouth shut more tightly than our PM to come and talk about bowler just showed his frustration. My point is unlike others on this board I still have faith in the guy who won us world cups and got us to no 1 test ranking' date=' to select best of the lot. can't we accept we just don't have any bowlers.[/quote'] Yeah same guy gloriously captained us to 2 whitewashes in eng and aus and Even lost at home to england.Where was his skills then.Fact of the matter is there is bias in selection there always has been.Dhoni likest.psingh ishant,rohit sharma,chawla ,jadeja they got far too many opportunities than many ,But guys like ishant,vinay have been struggling for long .Selectors are dogs of dhoni so i do not blame selectors they will have to bark at dhonis command.The captain has business interest in sports management firm rhiti which clearly is conflict of interest.

[CG]

Just a month back when the A side was winning nearly everything' date=' things looked so great for Indian cricket, selectors were doing a great job, we were on the right track, BCCI wa sgreat for giving so many A tours. 2 losses and everything with Indian cricket is wrong![/quote'] U said it not us.

[jf1gp_1]

Yeah same guy gloriously captained us to 2 whitewashes in eng and aus and Even lost at home to england.Where was his skills then.Fact of the matter is there is bias in selection there always has been.Dhoni likest.psingh ishant,rohit sharma,chawla ,jadeja they got far too many opportunities than many ,But guys like ishant,vinay have been struggling for long .Selectors are dogs of dhoni so i do not blame selectors they will have to bark at dhonis command.The captain has business interest in sports management firm rhiti which clearly is conflict of interest.

Well when you replace an aging batting line up with young fit batsman results were for everyone to be seen so let's not get into whitewash. So tell me mohit sharma highlight of last CSK season, dhoni goto guy who has a bit of public support I am sure he has backing of srini why isn't he in the team ?

[saneindian]

U said it not us.

CG you wouldn't know as you would have missed those threads because you probably dont quite like the team doing well. :P

[CG]

CG you wouldn't know as you would have missed those threads because you probably dont quite like the team doing well. :P

I follow more test than odi and t20s.I do not think i would be swayed by odi performances when basics of team like bowling are not strong.I always look at cb series in aus as a benchmark,It really was a great series win .

[rkt.india]

Do you honestly believe dhoni has some personal vendetta against Gony or any other promising bowler that he continues playing vinay or ishant. For someone like dhoni who keeps his mouth shut more tightly than our PM to come and talk about bowler just showed his frustration. My point is unlike others on this board I still have faith in the guy who won us world cups and got us to no 1 test ranking' date=' to select best of the lot. can't we accept we just don't have any bowlers.[/quote'] No, I do not believe, but what I wanted to say was that he was not given a run like Vinay and Ishant are. He might or might not have become the solution to our problem but giving an example of Gony is wrong as he did not get much opportunity to improve at this level. Most bowlers improve at this level when they play more. Vinay Kumar and Ishant are not the ones who won us WC. Did they? Regarding we do not have bowlers. You cannot have readymade bowlers. You will have to select potential talented bowlers and make them good bowlers through coaching and by playing them at the highest level. Do you believe Vinay Kumar is the best talent we have and can become international bowler. If not the, what is wrong in giving young bowlers more chances.

[rkt.india]

Just a month back when the A side was winning nearly everything' date=' things looked so great for Indian cricket, selectors were doing a great job, we were on the right track, BCCI wa sgreat for giving so many A tours. 2 losses and everything with Indian cricket is wrong![/quote'] That is still good. Nothing wrong in that regard and should continue.