What Dhoni can learn from McCullum

[Ankit_sharma03]

A captain is as good as his team. While nobody will argue with this, players and observers would also agree that sometimes the team is as good as the captain allows it to be. Brendon McCullumdidn't have the best team during the last World Cup but he found ways to take it to the final. The single biggest differentiator between other teams and New Zealand was the way McCullum led his side.

There's very little a captain can do when his team is batting, so the focus is on how his team fares in the field. There was an apparent weakness in New Zealand's bowling line-up: there were only four proper bowlers, they had a weak fifth bowler, and there wasn't a sixth bowling option at all. This puts enormous pressure on the four bowlers and the captain because no bowler can afford to have an off day. Corey Anderson was their fifth bowling option, and looking at the cold numbers, some would argue that he had a good World Cup as a bowler. But Anderson punched above his weight thanks to McCullum's leadership skills.

How did McCullum go about leading his four-man attack? He gave his main bowlers the brief to bowl aggressive wicket-taking lines and, more importantly, lengths. He would underline this by placing up to four slips at times. Most bowlers have the tendency to shorten their length the moment they get hit, but McCullum didn't allow that to happen, as he had three or four slips stationed as a constant and visible reminder that he expected his bowlers to pitch it up. He would leave mid-on and mid-off empty, bowl with a 7-2 off-side field, and wouldn't change the field radically even if the bowler went for a couple of boundaries in the over. He put his faith and weight behind the bowler.

This also put the opposition batsmen in a spot. Most limited-overs batsmen are accustomed to playing a certain way. They don't always rely on boundaries to keep the scoreboard moving, especially early in their innings. The typical modus operandi is to open the face of the bat to run the ball down to third man, play with soft hands, drop the ball and rotate strike. McCullum didn't only block that productive third-man region, he also got his fielders within the circle right up to cut off the singles.

Once they were denied their singles, opposition batsmen were forced to come up with different plans. They needed to take risks, and that brought them out of their comfort zone. It isn't easy hitting boundaries while the ball is new, for it brings risks and means putting your wicket on the line. If they played the waiting game against the main bowlers, they had to go all out against Anderson, and that brought him wickets.

McCullum also effectively treated ODIs as 40-over games, for he had only four wicket-taking bowlers. He didn't slip Anderson's overs in at the first possible opportunity.

While he successfully got most opposition batsmen to go hard at his main bowlers, once in a while it didn't work out. For example, South Africa called his bluff in the semi-final, as Anderson had five overs to bowl in the last 10. If rain hadn't interrupted, the match could have been sealed in South Africa's favour in the first half. But that's the thing with bluffing: someday, somebody will call it.

Though McCullum couldn't make his side win the World Cup, he taught everyone an important lesson in captaincy. He showed how one could make the most of his resources and think out of the box in an otherwise regimented world.

The reason for revisiting McCullum's method is that MS Dhoni is facing acute limitations with his bowling unit, and there might be a strong case for him to take a few cues from McCullum's style of captaincy.

A typical ODI bowling innings under Dhoni goes like this: use the main bowlers for the first 12-13 overs, followed by a few overs from the fifth bowler within the first 20 overs, and keep doing it till the 40th over. It might mean bowling the fifth bowler and a part-timer in tandem once in a while too.

Even if a wicket falls, Dhoni seldom attacks from both ends. A fall of a wicket presents two options: 1. Press to take another wicket, or 2. Slip in a few tidy overs from the lesser bowlers. More often than not, Dhoni opts for the second option. To be fair to him, most captains around the world follow the same template. In the Melbourne ODI, Ravindra Jadeja removed Steven Smith but neither Umesh Yadav nor Ishant Sharma bowled from the other end; it was either Gurkeerat Singh or Rishi Dhawan. When Jadeja got rid of George Bailey, Dhoni did bring in Ishant from the opposite end but Ishant and Jadeja bowled in tandem for just three overs. When Ishant dismissed Shaun Marsh (an opportunity to tighten the noose further), Dhoni replaced Jadeja with Barinder Sran in the next over, and he went for 11. While one can understand that Dhoni doesn't want his weaker bowlers to bowl in the last 10 overs, most matches are almost over by that time. India's best chance of restricting this strong Australian batting is by taking wickets and that can only happen if attack is the priority.

One can argue that the conditions in New Zealand during the World Cup were more seamer-friendly, and that McCullum at least had four potential wicket-takers while Dhoni has only a couple. But let's look at the Indian bowling resources a little closely - Ishant might not be an effective ODI bowler but he's growing as a Test bowler, and so it might be possible to give him Test-match fields and demand Test match lines and lengths. Yadav has a tendency to go for runs but is also capable of producing wicket-taking deliveries, and should be encouraged to do so. After he dismissed Aaron Finch and beat Smith to similar deliveries in Melbourne, instead of the slip cordon being strengthened, the solitary slip was removed. Jadeja was getting turn but it took only one shot from George Bailey to push the mid-on fielder back to the fence. There was a strong case to keep a slip and the mid-on fielder inside the circle throughout, for that would have challenged the batsmen more. Also, Dhoni chose to keep his four bowlers for the last 10 overs. Ishant did come in to bowl when Glenn Maxwell was fresh at the crease, but I don't recall seeing a slip in place or a few balls targeting his head.

It may sound like nitpicking, but that's the only thing you can do with this bowling line-up. Traditional ways of handling this bunch of bowlers on flat pitches haven't worked, so there's a case for doing something unorthodox. There's a possibility that this way India might lose the game earlier, but what the heck, a loss is a loss whether it happens in the 49th over or the 42nd.

Aakash Chopra is the author of three books, the latest of which is The Insider: Decoding the craft of cricket. @cricketaakash

 

Brilliant article by aakash chopra - http://www.espncricinfo.com/magazine/content/story/963559.html

 

 

Point even i have been saying , yes our bowling is not gr8. But its been always like this. But in the past we have defended 300+ totals better than most teams. Recently Wc2015 as well. Yes pitches have gone flat all over world but, captain ha sto figure a way out. By saying we need 30-40 more runs wont help the case. Ultimately its the captain who has to find someway out. U wnt find mcgrath,akram n warne in domestic. If he cant figure a way out better someone else try 

 

[sandeep]

Very good article and some quality criticism of Dhoni.  The classic "dhoniconda" strategy is to let the opponent make a mistake under pressure and squeeze and build pressure, take the game till the end.  But given the fact that there isn't really any scoreboard pressure, that strategy isn't working.  

Team India need to try and seize the game in the late middle stages with both, bat and ball.  

[sandeep]

Another point - the reason we are risk averse with the bat is because our ODI batting template was built with 7-4 in mind and the 3rd powerplay.  Taking these 2 out has made a huge psychological difference, and the team approach hasn't really mastered the new ODI equation.  I think another cricinfo article referenced this last week as well - mental powerplay or something.  That is why the lack of a powerhitter in lower middle order is even more pronounced.  

These failures in batting and bowling strategy can definitely be pinned on team management, and a big chunk of that is squarely on Dhoni's shoulders.  

Minor selection quibbles, such as whether Dhawan/Gurkeeret/Flavor of the month was not played instead of Jadeja or Ashwin etc is just kachra noise.  

[kruiser]

This is what a lot of folks on the forum have been saying. I am not a Dhoni hater, but evry small criticism or evaluation of captaincy labels me immediately as a hater. I was OK with Rohit bowling the solitary over - you want to see if it is the lucky day for your centurion. What i have not seen happen through out the series is an attempt to block off the singles, and no slips.

You cannot prevent a boundary to a good shot, but you can choke singles and force batsmen to take risks. That is not happening at all.

I also feels that Dhoni plays to the gallery a lot of times. Like removing Ashwin just to spite the critics (look I am giving chance to Gurkeerat and Rishi) when MCG was the best pitch to play two spinners. or multiple times in previous series he has played the weakest link just to show what crap players the selectors have chosen.

he is still the best glovesman in India against spinners, acceptable against pace if there is a good first slip. He either needs to have a plan B & Plan C to win the games or relinquish captaincy.

[sandeep]

You cannot prevent a boundary to a good shot, but you can choke singles and force batsmen to take risks. That is not happening at all.

Not much a captain can do if bowlers don't put the ball in the right place though.  I think Dhoni needs to change his strategy and go for wickets as early and as frequently as possible, but for the most part don't see too much wrong with his field placing.  I haven't seen the full 2nd innings for the last 3 ODIs - tough on the US east coast with the timings, but what I saw was a captain let down by some unfortunate bowling and fielding at inopportune times.  Just when we had a good stretch of a couple of tight overs, along comes a boundary ball or 2 to release the pressure.  Bowling changes early in the game?  Yes, I think he can do better there, definitely.  But its not as if Kohli or anyone else captaining the team will inspire our bowlers to McGrath-esque accuracy...

 

[asterix]

The least a captain can do is to motivate his players to perform and strive to win. I'm sorry to say, Dhobi instead of motivating players tries to demean them in public.. The chickens are coming to roost now... The players don't care anymore under his leadership, they know his captaincy will screwup India's chances anyway... He doesn't motivates players anymore.., no point blaming the players for mistakes... The buck stops at Dhobi... He needs to go as he doesn't motivates his team to strive for any win... In fact many players must be actually wishing him to keep on losing till he retires... He's made enemies and has always indulged in groupism and biasses in his captaincy... So he's getting back in kind...

[New guy]

The least a captain can do is to motivate his players to perform and strive to win. I'm sorry to say, Dhobi instead of motivating players tries to demean them in public.. The chickens are coming to roost now... The players don't care anymore under his leadership, they know his captaincy will screwup India's chances anyway... He doesn't motivates players anymore.., no point blaming the players for mistakes... The buck stops at Dhobi... He needs to go as he doesn't motivates his team to strive for any win... In fact many players must be actually wishing him to keep on losing till he retires... He's made enemies and has always indulged in groupism and biasses in his captaincy... So he's getting back in kind...

The biggest proof of this can be seen in Yadav and Aaron. Their shoulders droop under Dhoni every match but they seem very motivated under Kohli

[Pagalpanti]

What Dhoni lacks is a plan B. He is very good at containing opposition mind you, I don't agree that he lets the game slip away.

Problem arises when the bowlers are having an off day or not quite bowling to the plan. In that moment a captain has to think quick and come up with something different.

If the pitch is flat, create different angles and plans for batsman. Zak used to do that well in his prime. These young bowlers will take time to develop that kind of awareness and skill until then captain has to lead em, can't just sit back and say bowlers are not good enough. He's not a manager, he is supposed to be a leader.

[vvvslaxman]

[asterix]

^ Even kids know how Dhobi will react or what will be his strategies in a match... He follows a standard pattern... In fact even opposite teams too know his captaincy... All they've to do is to take advantages of the weaknesses and strategise against the pathetic, standard, set pattern captaincy of Dhobi...

[The Realist]

What is Dhoni going to learn know when he literally has a few months left before retirement? 

He is as stubborn as a mule and at current levels of ability and captaincy is on a par with Alastair Cook for ineptness in limited overs cricket.

The fresh ideas and strategies required you get from a new captain, not one from as stale as Dhoni.  

[adi B]

apt pic,this pic came on the icf in2011/2012 I think and it completely portrays Dhoni's thinking.he has acted worse than a stubborn mule for years now.even if greats of the game give him some sane advice,he'll brush them aside and work his own way.that is dhoni for you,"sunega sabki ,karega apni" 

Edited January 20, 2016 by adi B

[rkt.india]

NZ have superior fast bowlers. No captain can do much if your bowlers bowl all over the place. You can't stop bleeding runs with such bowling.

[nevada]

What is Dhoni going to learn know when he literally has a few months left before retirement? 

He is as stubborn as a mule and at current levels of ability and captaincy is on a par with Alastair Cook for ineptness in limited overs cricket.

The fresh ideas and strategies required you get from a new captain, not one from as stale as Dhoni.  

He can learn to retire and step aside.

[fineleg]

apt pic,this pic came on the icf in2011/2012 I think and it completely portrays Dhoni's thinking.he has acted worse than a stubborn mule for years now.even if greats of the game give him some sane advice,he'll brush them aside and work his own way.that is dhoni for you,"sunega sabki ,karega apni" 

I was the one who posted the MULE SINGH DHONI pic first, infact had it as my avatar for a while too :)

Edited January 20, 2016 by fineleg

[adi B]

NZ have superior fast bowlers. No captain can do much if your bowlers bowl all over the place. You can't stop bleeding runs with such bowling.

 

yeah we saw what those superior  bowlers did in Australia and how they got hammered by England in odis last year.fact is India have better fast bowling resources than nzl for australian conditions barring milne maybe.nzl pacers boult,southee,bracewell,henry were trundling like no tomorrow and Australia smashed them mercilessly ,17 wkts in first 2 tests lol.

Indian bowlers were at least bowling with pace and in every test natch Barring the Sydney one got Australia 250-300/6 down ,it was only the tail and Smith who stuck around

Edited January 20, 2016 by adi B

[adi B]

I was the one who posted the MULE SINGH DHONI pic first, infact had it as my avatar for a while too :)

yeah I remember ,especially during that horrible England series in 2012

[New guy]

Ha ha

[philcric]

Not much a captain can do if bowlers don't put the ball in the right place though.  I think Dhoni needs to change his strategy and go for wickets as early and as frequently as possible, but for the most part don't see too much wrong with his field placing.  I haven't seen the full 2nd innings for the last 3 ODIs - tough on the US east coast with the timings, but what I saw was a captain let down by some unfortunate bowling and fielding at inopportune times.  Just when we had a good stretch of a couple of tight overs, along comes a boundary ball or 2 to release the pressure.  Bowling changes early in the game?  Yes, I think he can do better there, definitely.  But its not as if Kohli or anyone else captaining the team will inspire our bowlers to McGrath-esque accuracy...

 

Confirmation bias?

Kohli or anyone else may not inspire our bowlers to McGrath-esque accuracy .. but may be, just may be, they can inspire our bowlers to be the best they can be. Clearly, our bowlers as bad as they are, not even bowling to 'their' potential.

Bowling is one part of the equation. Our team as a whole has become stale and not improving in terms of strategy, personnel and mindset. There are some intangible things that a captain brings to the table. Whatever Dhoni is bringing to the table now, it's not working well. He had his time as the captain. A whole generation has passed since the time he first took up captaincy. Like how Dhoni (and not Dravid or Kumble) was the right person to take the team forward in 2008, it's time for Kohli to take this team forward now.

I wonder why Dhoni would even want to captain anymore (even if the team was doing well). In the last 10 years he has captained 100s of games across Tests/ODIs/T20s/IPL, squatting tens of thousands of times while keeping. This is the time he should enjoy his last few years of his career in the format he's best at, transferring the stresses and responsibilities of captaincy to a younger guy. That would enable him to get close to his best as Wk/Bat and also gives him the best chance to have a final crack at another world cup in 2019.

 

 

[New guy]

Kohli can not only encourage the fast bowlers by making them his primary weapon instead of medium pacers or spinners, given 2-3 years he will build a battery of confident fast bowlers. I have no doubt that our bowling will do a 180 degree turn under Kohli