Dhoni believes his challenge on Zimbabwe tour will be identifying the strengths of his young side in a short span of time. © Getty
Successive defeats in One-Day International series against Bangladesh, South Africa and Australia, followed by an unsuccessful 2016 ICC World Twenty20 campaign at home, coupled with his own lack of form has recently sparked a debate on whether it is time for Mahendra Singh Dhoni to step down and let Virat Kohli, India's Test captain, take over the reigns across all three formats of the game.
Dhoni, who quit Test cricket after the drawn Melbourne game against Australia in December 2014, was replaced by Kohli at the helm in the longest format. The wicketkeeper-batsman, however, continued to lead the team in the shorter formats of the game. He has, by far, been India's most successful skipper - leading India to both the 50-over and Twenty20 world titles and was also in charge when India climbed to the top spot in the Test rankings. His form, however, has deserted him in recent past.
Ravi Shastri, team's outgoing director, too, advocated for the change last week, suggesting that it was time for the selectors to take a call in the 'interest of Indian cricket'.
Quite naturally, Dhoni had to face the tricky question before India's departure for the short limited-overs tour of Zimbabwe. The Indian skipper, however, decided to play it safe. "It is a decision that BCCI will take, it is not up to me to decide that," Dhoni retorted at the pre-departure press meet in Mumbai on Tuesday (June 7).
Dhoni, however, was more forthcoming when his opinion on the ongoing hunt for the new head coach of the team was asked for. While the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) called for a Hindi-speaking candidate as one of its nine-point criteria for the selection, the captain believes, more than language it is the understanding of the country's culture that will help the new man gel well with the team.
"I think there is no big problem with communication. You have seen, the kind of players coming in, English is not a big barrier. The other players in the team take the initiative, too," he noted. "I feel, it can be a criteria, but it can't be the only criteria. What is important is from a team's perspective (is) what it needs. It's not like everyone wants to be the coach, there's a reason behind it - you have your own family. (For) lots of international coaches, the problem is that we play a lot of cricket.
"From an availability point of view, we will have to see what is the best option and best for the team. One of the most important things is that they understand our culture. More than Hindi or English, (the) one who understands our culture and our upbringing.. will be better with us. In the past, too, these things are important, and the coaches who have understood better, there has been a difference on the ground," the captain opined.
The Indian cricket team has been without a coach since the exit of Dunccan Fletcher, whose contract came to end with India's exit at the 2015 ICC Cricket World Cup in Australia and New Zealand. Shastri had, since then, served as the team director but his tenure, too, came to end after India's semifinal exit at the recently concluded ICC World T20. BCCI then appointed Sanjay Bangar, former cricketer and current Kings XI Punjab head coach, as the interim coach for the Zimbabwe tour where India will play three ODIs and as many Twenty20 Internationals.
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It probably came as a surprise to many when the selection committee, unlike the 2013 tour, put Dhoni in charge of the squad. The 16-member touring party has as many as six uncapped players while established stars like Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan and Ajinkya Rahane have all been given a much-needed break.
While he feels the new-look team looks good on paper, Dhoni believes his real challenge will be identifying the strengths of his young teammates in short span of time. "I think it will be a very different experience," Dhoni said when asked about the challenges of leading a team with many first-timers. "You keep playing with almost the same group of players, so you almost know the roles and responsibilities and what each players' strengths are. There will be quite a few players in this bilateral series with whom I'll be playing for the first time. So I have to quickly assess their strengths and... what is the best possible manner in which each individual can be utilised." he observed.
"Most of them have been a part of the set-up for quite some time. They have played India A and a few other big tournaments. When it comes to exposure, they are all there. The composition looks good, the fast bowlers, spinners and all-rounders. Other than that in Zimbabwe the toss is quite crucial. There are not many places in the world where you play day games. You have to accordingly adapt and use the conditions to your advantage," he added.
Even as Dhoni admitted he hasn't played alongside a bunch of those touring with him, the captain is fairly confident of their skills and talent. "The bowling looks good as of now, but I will be commenting just by looking at the squad on paper and whatever I have seen them do. (Jasprit) Bumrah has improved in whatever games he has got. He's had a good IPL. Barinder (Sran) got a fair amount of exposure in the IPL and we saw him improve from the first game till the last. When it comes to spinners, (Yuzvendra) Chahal and Axar (Patel) - they have been veterans in the limited overs set-up. Although, Chahal will be fairly new to the (national team) set-up. Jayant (Yadav) is there. I feel the bowling looks very good," he noted.
"Batting - we have to see what is the slot that is available for a particular individual. In the Indian scenario, we have seen where you get to play in your domestic scene; it's very different when you play for the national side," he added. "According to that, you have to quickly adjust to the demands of the game. That is a good thing because you can show your adaptability. If the team needs you to bat at a particular position, how you adapt and show what you can actually do and contribute to the team's win. Overall, they're looking good on paper - both the batting and the bowling. You may say bowling has a bit more exposure to international cricket than the batting." the 34-year-old remarked.
Dhoni credited the youngsters for making their way to the national team with stellar performances in the domestic circuit, with many being rewarded for their Indian Premier League outing. But at the same time, the captain said the rookies will have to prove themselves by soaking the pressures of the international stage.
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"IPL is a platform where you identify talent. Its very different because all said and done it is still a domestic (tournament). Though you play with international cricketers, it is still different. When you are told you are representing India, there's a different kind of pressure you feel. As individuals you have to go through it," he said before adding, "For India, it is different, a bit more responsibility. The guys will try to prove themselves, show what talent they've got to show at the international level. Zimbabwe can be challenging at the same time. When it comes to talent part, the squad looks good. All of them have been rewarded for their domestic cricket. It will be exciting to see them on the field. Other than that, when you play against a player in IPL, it's not enough to get enough indication but that's not enough to make a comment on any particular player," he concluded.
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