Are Dhoni's finishing skills on the wane?

Not too long ago, if India needed eight runs to win off the final over in an ODI or a T20 contest and a certain gentleman by the name of Mahendra Singh Dhoni was at the crease, you could have taken victory for granted. This isn't the case anymore. And Zimbabwe's Neville Madziva illustrated that perfectly in the first T20 international at the Harare Sports Club on Saturday.
Madziva used the same tactics as promising South African seamer Kagiso Rabada did against the Indian skipper in Kanpur last year.
On that occasion, till Rohit Sharma was batting alongside Dhoni, things looked good. But the moment Rohit departed for 150, with India needing 34 runs from 23 balls, the onus was on Dhoni to ensure that a special knock didn't end in defeat. It didn't happen that way. Dhoni finished with 30 off 31 balls as India lost by five runs while chasing 303.
Like Rabada, Madziva either bowled slowish wide deliveries with a deep point and deep cover or bowled a three-quarter length at sharp pace forcing Dhoni to hit the ball with the splice of his Spartan willow.
Chris Woakes used similar tactics against him during a T20 international at Edgbaston in September 2014. Dhoni, then was on 14 off 12 balls before the last over in which India needed 16, but got only 13 and the Indian skipper despite struggling with his form and timing failed to run singles which would have put Ambati Rayudu, a proven stroke-player in the IPL, on strike.
The line of bowling wide outside off stump and taking the leg-side out of the equation when bowling to Dhoni was first attempted during the 2014 ICC World T20 final in Mirpur. Lasith Malinga and Nuwan Kulasekara bowled that line expertly as Dhoni failed to get the ball away.
The defeat to Zimbabwe on Saturday was the fifth instance of Dhoni remaining unbeaten in a T20 international with India falling short of their victory target.
While experts and the cricketing fraternity have rightly hailed him as one of the best finishers in the world in the limited-overs format, it is time to question whether he still deserves that tag. On Saturday, he scored 19 off 17 balls with one boundary. He ran 13 singles and one two. He ran 10 twos for Manish Pandey during their alliance.
Till Pandey was at the wicket and was striking the ball well, Dhoni didn't feel the pinch of accelerating the scoring and keeping up with the required rate which was consistently hovering above 10. Axar Patel's 9-ball 18 had set the stage for Dhoni to provide the ideal finishing touches to the chase and victory, but the finishing kick just didn't come.
Over the years, Dhoni's tactics have always been to take the game till the end. He did that on Saturday too and even allowed Rishi Dhawan to take strike and face two balls in the last over when the onus was on him to hit the big shots. While one can't fault his fitness levels as was illustrated with all the running he did, one will have to ask if batting at six and finishing games suits him any more. He could be better off batting higher and setting up games with bigger hitters to follow. One saw him struggle in the World T20 game against Australia at Mohali too, but because Virat Kohli was in such sublime form, one couldn't really pin point fingers at Dhoni. A couple of boundaries he struck during the 10-ball 18 were streaky strokes.
The question really is: Are Dhoni's finishing skills on the wane? His numerous fans and supporters will point out to the IPL game between Rising Pune Supergiants and Kings XI Punjab where the RPSG skipper hit 23 off the final over off Axar Patel to win Pune the game. However, in international cricket, you won't find bowlers like Patel bowling the last over of a T20 contest.
One must also consider that Dhoni bats at his own pace till the first 10 or 15 balls and in a T20 game or the last five overs of a 50-over contest, that pace isn't suitable. Kohli too takes his time but he is blessed with the rare talent of finding gaps and hitting boundaries.
These days, the Indian limited-overs skipper needs the help of a Raina or Kohli or Pandey to see the side through. It happened in the fifth ODI at Sydney earlier this year too. He had limped his way to 34 off 42 balls and was trying to take the game till the end. But because he had Pandey (104 off 81 balls) at the other side, who struck a rapid hundred and took the team home, his efforts didn't really hurt the side as they were chasing 331.
When Dhoni walked in to bat at Sydney, India needed 100 off 91 balls with seven wickets in hand. By the time the last five overs began, the equation had become 46 off 30 balls. He had faced 19 dots and had run 18 singles in his innings. It put a lot of pressure on Pandey, but the Karnataka lad was up to the task.
On Saturday, there was no Kohli or Pandey to bail him out.