Sport360° view: Bold approach by Dhoni bodes well for India

Jaideep Marar 07:12 24/07/2014
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  • Leading light: MS Dhoni was brilliant as a captain during the Lord’s Test.

    The Lord’s Test was quite refreshing for followers of Indian cricket.

    Their batsmen held sway on a green top, their fast bowlers rattled their rivals with bouncers and their captain finally proved he can be as enterprising in Tests as he is in limited-overs cricket.

    Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s captaincy is definitely the top pick with the short-pitched stuff unleashed by the pacers coming a close second.

    The Indian batting was of course fantastic but on the evidence of the last six overseas Tests we always knew they can rake up 300-plus scores.

    Dhoni is a street-smart captain in limited-overs cricket and one of the best India have had in a long, long time with his successes proving it in big measure.

    He has won every title in the shorter formats: World Twenty20 (2007), World Cup (2011), Champions Trophy (2013), Asia Cup (2010), Champions League Twenty20 (2010) and Indian Premier League (2010, 2011).

    Under his captaincy, India also attained the No1 Test status (between 2009-2011), but interestingly that was largely built upon successes at home.

    When the big overseas challenge came about both India and Dhoni fell flat as they lost eight overseas Tests in a row in England (2011) and Australia (2012).

    He didn’t do any justice to his captaincy credentials by failing to cash in on the opportunities and adopting a defensive approach during India’s last two overseas series in South Africa (December 2013) and New Zealand (February 2014).

    The criticism was justified to a large extent because India could have won both those series.

    The same approach was on display during the Trent Bridge Test too and fears of another debacle loomed large, but Lord’s was a revelation and unlocked one of the biggest mysteries of Indian cricket.

    Rarely had Dhoni been so pro-active and adventurous in an overseas Test as he was at Lord’s.

    His move to ask Ishant Sharma to bowl bouncers when Joe Root and Moeen Ali where threatening to run away with the match on the final day was indeed a master-stroke.

    Interestingly, the bowler was not keen to obey his captain but Dhoni did not give him any chance by setting up a field for the short-ball and forced Ishant to obey to the diktat.

    His ploy to stand a few paces behind the stumps while keeping to leftarm spinner Ravindra Jadeja on a wearing pitch was another brilliant tactic.

    It was an attacking strategy to cover for the flying edges from the batsmen’s bats and not a defensive approach to stop the byes, as most experts had opined.

    Dhoni’s enterprising leadership in Tests opens up a myriad of winning options for this young team.

    The batting has shown admirable pluck to tackle any situation and condition and the Lord’s success proved that the bowlers too can make a big impact if backed by a thinking captain.

    Dhoni’s current approach needs to be commended as much as he had been criticised for the lack of it earlier.

    It shows his willingness to adapt and change course for the progress of a team that is teeming with talent and enthusiasm.

    The more Dhoni does this, the better it will be for India’s hopes of becoming the No1 Test team.

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