The one major flaw in Dhoni's captaincy

[Mr. Wicket]

The man cannot handle spinners properly. Ramesh Powar is a bowler who requires longer spells and some faith despite the odd four or six he'll concede early on especially if batsmen attack him. His style of bowling is as unsuited to the death as you will ever get - yet Dhoni handled him terribly in the games he played, bowling him in bits and pieces spells, changing fields or taking Powar off in the first game when batsmen started trying to attack, and worst, bowling him at the death. Today it was Murali Kartik. An outstanding opening spell. 7-1-15-1, turn, bounce and nagging accuracy from around the wicket. Then he took him off. Spinners, especially finger spinners like Kartik, rely very much on rhythm in longer spells. With the batsmen in knots, Kartik should not have come off by any means. He needed to readjust and find his line/length again against better set batsmen when he returned, and found himself getting hit. Final figures - 9-1-37-1, excellent overall, but nowhere near as good as they could have been. Even Harbhajan was poorly handled. While he conceded runs in his first spell, he was at least attacking, getting good turn and getting the batsmen in trouble. Brad Hodge fell with the score at 129. Harbhajan had gotten Symonds dropped two overs ago, and found Hodge's edge in his previous over. With a new batsman short of match practice in the last week, Dhoni took Harbhajan off... and instead brought Yuseless on to bowl. 6-2-2-0-4-1 followed. So much for momentum. Dhoni's a promising captain right now. He's bold, aggressive, says the right things and backs his players without any signs of disunity/factions. But he needs to learn how to handle spinners, else India will not succeed under him.

[fineleg]

Salil, Good post!

[Yuvraj4Captaincy]

Dhoni's a promising captain right now. He's bold, aggressive, says the right things and backs his players without any signs of disunity/factions. But he needs to learn how to handle spinners, else India will not succeed under him.

even sreesanth is bold and agressive..that does not equate to being a promising captain..You need the talent ability to back up what you say and play some fine captains innings.

[Chaos]

yep bad bad bowleer this yuseless. bad decision dhons!

[Bumper]

Completely agree. Dont know what he was thinking. Dhoni's intentions were presumably to save these guys for the death. But it turned out to be a totally wrong move, as once the Aussies were 4 down, their only hope of scoring big is to get a partnership going. Murali & Bhajji should have operated in tandem until they completed their quota. That was our best chance for breaking partnerships. Pathetic to see James Hopes rake up 39 off 30 after we had them 5 down for 200.

[Holysmoke]

he will learn..

[novpj]

he doesnt seem to be

[Mr. Wicket]

he will learn..

But how soon? Against Pakistan (a team that has been susceptible to good spin bowling - outstanding bowlers in their 3 last series defeats were Monty Panesar, Paul Harris/Makhaya Ntini and Paul Harris), can India afford to have Kumble being used in bits-and-pieces spells with ad-hoc field placing decisions that are reactive rather than proactive and consistent? India have most often defeated Pakistan on the back of their spin strength, with the exception of Rawalpindi in 2004. Dhoni's captaincy could be seriously exposed in that series, if he doesn't realise a few things very quickly about handling his slow bowlers. Or it might just be best to name someone like VVS or Kumble test captain.

[Rajiv]

Salil, with all due respect..its hist first 50-50 He is handling hopes of that BIG # o 1 billion which is used ever so often. It's his first 50-50 with three ex-captains, if anything..give the guy some credit for whatever he is doing

[veer]

yup.. he is stilll in learning mode.. it looks like he worries more about getting those 6th bolwers overs outta his way when he has upper hand.. but he needs to attack more ... yeahh it was a big blunder to bring in yuvi in hindsight..

[Holysmoke]

But how soon? Against Pakistan (a team that has been susceptible to good spin bowling - outstanding bowlers in their 3 last series defeats were Monty Panesar, Paul Harris/Makhaya Ntini and Paul Harris), can India afford to have Kumble being used in bits-and-pieces spells with ad-hoc field placing decisions that are reactive rather than proactive and consistent? India have most often defeated Pakistan on the back of their spin strength, with the exception of Rawalpindi in 2004. Dhoni's captaincy could be seriously exposed in that series, if he doesn't realise a few things very quickly about handling his slow bowlers. Or it might just be best to name someone like VVS or Kumble test captain.

Test != ODI and btw, Tendulkar is test captain.

[Mr. Wicket]

Salil, with all due respect..its hist first 50-50 He is handling hopes of that BIG # o 1 billion which is used ever so often. It's his first 50-50 with three ex-captains, if anything..give the guy some credit for whatever he is doing

I did. I have said that he is a promising captain, usually bold and aggressive, handles his men very well off the field and such (see last line of the OP). Even the topic title indicates this is the one major flaw in his leadership right now. But it's a flaw, a weakness and it's a crucial one. Spin has been India's biggest strength in tests for a long time, the recent England tour notwithstanding. It might be best if Dhoni keeps the ODI leadership for some time with another, more experienced player leading the test side (ideally one of the test specialists - VVS or Kumble) until Dhoni has enough experience to step up to that level, particularly as I don't think he's ever led a side at Ranji/Duleep/U-19 level before.

[veer]

He is handling hopes of that BIG # o 1 billion which is used ever so often. It's his first 50-50 with three ex-captains, if anything..give the guy some credit for whatever he is doing

very well said... big 3s are pulling him back.. he would do lot better once those three leaves.

[Holysmoke]

I did. I have said that he is a promising captain, usually bold and aggressive, handles his men very well off the field and such (see last line of the OP). Even the topic title indicates this is the one major flaw in his leadership right now. But it's a flaw, a weakness and it's a crucial one. Spin has been India's biggest strength in tests for a long time, the recent England tour notwithstanding. It might be best if Dhoni keeps the ODI leadership for some time with another, more experienced player leading the test side (ideally one of the test specialists - VVS or Kumble) until Dhoni has enough experience to step up to that level, particularly as I don't think he's ever led a side at Ranji/Duleep/U-19 level before.

Arre baba, where does tests come in? Dhoni isnt test captain, and for good reason. Tendulkar is.

[beetle]

The test captain hasn't been announced. Guys ..give the poor guy a chance...it's his first series.And remember the team he is playing against is no push over.

[Rajiv]

..Please don't forget NO COACH ( maybe this statement is not required )

[beetle]

We need a coach ASAP....no matter what the seniors +yuvraj says....

[Yuvraj4Captaincy]

We need a coach ASAP....no matter what the seniors +yuvraj says....

yuvraj said we need a coach asap..there was big article on it so i dunno why u puttin his name there....

[Yuvraj4Captaincy]

Arre baba, where does tests come in? Dhoni isnt test captain, and for good reason. Tendulkar is.

how do u know tendulkar is test captain for sure?

[beetle]

Because I saw his interview where he said now we are doing fine but in future we will need oone... Ganguly has been giving interviews saying...we don't need one...