Preserve Dhoni for the World Cup next year, says S Kannan
Given the pressure which goes with the job - home or away - it's hard for Dhoni to motivate the side after the drubbing in the Test series.
For long, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has been seen as very benevolent towards Mahendra Singh Dhoni. In about 24 hours, the beleaguered captain will be leading the demoralised Indian side against England in a tough ODI series.
Given the pressure which goes with the job - home or away - it's hard for Dhoni to motivate the side after the drubbing in the Test series. For its part, the Board has tried to take attention away from the main issues by 'giving a break' to two assistant coaches, Joe Dawes and Trevor Penney, and naming Ravi Shastri as team director.
If you look at the overall picture, captain Dhoni and head coach Duncan Fletcher are still there. But the time has come when the Board needs to take some sensible decisions and not fool the public which loves the sport so dearly.
Watching Dhoni these days makes for painful viewing. He looks tired, more so when he hasn't shaved and the grey beard glistens. Years of travel and the turmoil of facing defeats overseas in tough series does hurt, though the common perception is that 'captain cool' remains unruffled.
The time has come when it's not just the selection committee which needs to take a call on the future of Dhoni but the big bosses in the Board as well. Even a typically myopic Board should have the vision to spare him of the burden of Test captaincy, especially overseas.
Ideally, Virat Kohli would have been the right man for the job but one disastrous series in England has changed perception about this superstar who now has the dubious distinction of repeatedly falling to outgoing deliveries. The next Test series is at home against the West Indies and it really does not matter whether India win or lose.
The bigger challenge will be the tough Test series in Australia, where the hosts are waiting to have a go at the Indians. So it makes sense to groom a new Test captain even if the results are initially adverse. Coming back to Dhoni, as he is most likely going to lead India in the 2015 ICC World Cup in Australia and New Zealand, it will be good if he handles the responsibility in just ODIs.
The debate about how good or bad a Test captain Dhoni is will continue for a long time and statistics will always be used to compare his flop shows with other former India captains. What cannot be ignored is his horrendous record as captain in England and Australia, so it's best at this stage to entrust him with just one job.
There is a school of thought which believes Dhoni did not do badly in the Tests in England as he batted freely for valuable runs. Yet, if one is serious about building a side for the World Cup and hoping that India can once again do well, Dhoni needs mental peace.
The pressure of leading the Indian cricket side is just too intense and at 33, he is not getting any younger. As one who figures in the Forbes 'Richie Rich' list with a total earnings of US$ 30 million, Dhoni is still hot property. Out of that figure, the value of his endorsements is a whopping US$ 26 million - that is the commercial value of this man.
Having said that, if the Board is serious about preserving Dhoni for the World Cup, he needs to be spared this trauma of leading India in every format and then getting caned for poor shows overseas.
As an ODI player, Dhoni brings with him immense maturity and value. His ability to finish matches in the short format is well known and that is how we need to remember the man who has won India the World T20 in 2007 and the ICC World Cup in 2011.
In India, no top athlete wants to walk into sunset while at the top. Even though Dhoni is the butt of ridicule now, just like coach Fletcher, one cannot write off his rich contribution to Indian cricket.
At a time when the Board is only concerned about how many more zeroes it will add to its huge bank balance, the time has come when only sane people can ensure Dhoni is preserved for the World Cup next year.
Repeatedly subjecting him to humiliation will reduce him to a caricature and that's not required. There may be some in the Board who will be tempted to persist with Dhoni in Tests but that will be doing him a disservice.
It's hard to see this man wanting to be India captain after the next World Cup as he hardly has anything left to prove to the world. If the Board wants to be bolder, it can even rest Dhoni totally from Test cricket at home.
In the next few weeks, depending on how the team fares against England in the ODIs, we will hear more about Dhoni. Hopefully, there will be something good.
s.kannan@mailtoday.in