This team can be great

[ThePhenomenal1]

I'm referring to the current wc t20 core group and the champions trophy group (minus ishant of course). Across formats: Dhawan, vijay, rahane, pujara, kohli, raina, rohit, dhoni, jadeja, ashwin, shami, kumar, aaron, umesh, mishra Add players like pandey, kulkarni, rayudu to rotate. The potential is all there. BUT there's a reason we've won nothing overseas - the captaincy of ms dhoni. I'm not hating on him but want to present the problem he brings. (1) Poor captaincy - he might have been a little more aggressive at times recently but he has let the game slip away numerous times with poor fields and lazy attitude. (2) Team selection - letting ishant and zak play 4 tests is a crime, especially since they couldnt help get 10 wickets in the Joburg test with 450 runs on the board. Refuses to play genuine wicket takers - doesnt understand test cricket. Refuses to play 5 proper bowlers. Prefers economy over wickets but since mishra showed him how it works, he now backs mishra. (3) Belittles the bowlers - how many times have you heard him say how he doesnt have a reliable bowler.. even though guys like kumar and shami have bowled some good overs at the death? It takes time to produce a quality bowler but it helps when you have a captain that backs you - ask mishra! (4) Lack of hunger - he only seems to want to win when his @ss is under fire like now. We need kohli and pujara to lead the sides across formats because they look hungry and we've seen how kohli wants to take wickets. He has backed mishra and results are there to see. We could be so much better if we had a younger, more aggressive and hungry captain for the formats. Dhoni remains wc 2015 captain because of his record in odis but just hope he gets that killer intent before the event. We have world class batsmen who took on steyn and co and almost chased a world record vs new zealand. We have young, fit and hungry fast bowlers who are ready to take wickets and win matches. They are not world class yet but potential is there. Where is it used? To serve drinks and warm benches!

[vvvslaxman]

Shane warne nailed it in the commentary. We should have an environment where bowlers should volunteer to bowl end overs. When you do that they will focus more. Dhoni should designate someone and ask them to practice. Death bowling != bowling yorkers. It is thinking on feet. Even the best of best can be outwitted by batsmen. We should not give up on bowlers. Just back them until they get this right.

[CrazyCric]

Three T20 wins ( one against Bangladesh) and many many losses in the recent months are forgotten. Damn these Indians have very short memory..

[ThePhenomenal1]

Three T20 wins ( one against Bangladesh) and many many losses in the recent months are forgotten. Damn these Indians have very short memory..

Didn't you read what I said?

BUT there's a reason we've won nothing overseas - the captaincy of ms dhoni.

Anyways, give credit to india. Beat pak and west indies who are the current champs, both former champs, this is their suited format. We dont play that many t20s as a unit nor have we qualified since 2007. This is also the toughest group. My main point is that the core players are being held back by a weak overseas captain.

[maniac]

Shane warne nailed it in the commentary. We should have an environment where bowlers should volunteer to bowl end overs. When you do that they will focus more. Dhoni should designate someone and ask them to practice. Death bowling != bowling yorkers. It is thinking on feet. Even the best of best can be outwitted by batsmen. We should not give up on bowlers. Just back them until they get this right.

Practicing Yorkers and bowling them in an actual slog overs scenario is 2 different things....Also our spinners just don't seem to have a plan B when they are attacked eg;Jadeja.....No matter what IPL means to the hardcore cricket fan,I believe bowling at the death there seems to have helped Misra.....none of the other bowlers in the squad bar Ashwin have the experience to bowl at the death in IPL which is the best practice these guys can get in a high-pressure situation. Most of the go to bowlers at the death are usually overseas bowlers there.

[ThePhenomenal1]

Shane warne nailed it in the commentary. We should have an environment where bowlers should volunteer to bowl end overs. When you do that they will focus more. Dhoni should designate someone and ask them to practice. Death bowling != bowling yorkers. It is thinking on feet. Even the best of best can be outwitted by batsmen. We should not give up on bowlers. Just back them until they get this right.

Exactly. Current lot look like they want to improve and learn unlike that useless ishant aka Mr 'I am bowling well.' We should back these guys. Finally good to have a set of bowlers and not chop and change because of mediocrity. Even if its for a short amount of time! Yeah bowlers should volunteer. Its 2 overs! Get the yorkers and slower balls right and even if you go for 5 runs thats not a bad result in t20s.

[fineleg]

TP1, While MSD needs to cop a lot of blame for last couple of years, we STILL DONT have a core team who can do well in all formats. These tontee-tontee wins are bijili vedi* wins - dont count for a whole lot, we still get our behinds handed by teams like SA, Aus, NZ when we tour them in ODIs and Test cricket. (and it has to do with players also, not just MSD - though his captaincy does suck). *