By Denzil Fernandes
London, Aug 5: Mahendra Singh Dhoni is no more leading the Indian cricket team from the front ! In fact, many critics have already started calling for his head and unless things take a drastic turn for the better, the Indian captain may suddenly find that his days are numbered. The third test at Edgbaston is going to be a ‘make or break’ situation for the Indian captain. If his team wins and then goes on to beat England in the fourth test and square the series all the heat will be cooled down. Then only Dhoni will be able to breathe freely. But will England allow the 2-0 lead to slip away?
The Indian team is now in the process of finding out who will play in the forthcoming matches and who will not. India’s spearhead in the bowling attack Zaheer Khan has played for a day or so in the first test at Lords and limped off from the field. Likewise, Gambhir got hit on the elbow and is still doubtful to play. Harbhajan who did not do well in the two tests has abdominal strain and has been ruled out of the tour. Yuvraj Singh has an injury on his hand and is going back to India with Bhajji. Team India have already summoned Kohli and Ojha as replacements and the team really looks like a batch of injured soldiers. The signs of any Indian recovery are looking very bleak. At the moment, the team looks like a disjointed lot.
However, there is good news that opener Virender Sehwag is expected to take his place in the third test at Edgbaston after missing the first two tests due to injury. Although Sehwag has not played any cricket since May 7th last he will bolster the Indian batting and will be a thorn for the England side. When on song, no one can stop the Delhi daredevil.
Dhoni has been one of the most successful India captains before the England tour commenced. He has under his belt the T20 World Championship, two wins in IPL as the Chennai captain, one win the Champions League and the recent World Cup victory in the sub continent. India has been on the top of the world ranking as the best test side but are now in danger of losing that coveted position with losses to England in the current test series.
Despite a fabulous time so far with the team, nothing has been going well in England for the otherwise successful player and captain. Dhoni has been struggling as a batsman, unable to gather the balls cleanly behind the stumps in England and above all a miserable sight as the India captain fumbling time and time again. To add to his non performance, he has tried his hand as a bowler giving the wicketkeeping job to Dravid. Captain ‘cool’ as he is often called is now all set to be dismantled after such a drubbing from England.
But a brave Dhoni says that a turnaround is not impossible. To his critics, it will be a joke of the century without doubt. England skipper Strauss will now be looking at a 4-0 whitewash with all guns blazing. As the days progress, a total rout is on the cards for Team India. There is no other result in sight at the moment.
The dark clouds are emerging over the Indian cricket horizon and there seems to be no saviour for the team. Each and every player on tour has been found wanting and except for a few patches of brilliance nothing has gone right for India. Except for Rahul Dravid who has managed a couple of tons there has not been any sort of
batting consistency visible. Even the bowling department has suffered which has given a great opportunity for their rivals to plunder runs at will. Lesser known late order batsmen have been able to score for England which clearly shows the poor quality of Indian bowling. Comparatively, the England bowlers have bowled to a plan and peppered the Indians with short pitched bowling with telling effect. As Gavaskar rightly put it, the Indian side has looked like a schoolboys team against the formidable Englishmen.
One of the most successful Indian captains who has also flourished on a personal front with such lucrative endorsements and achievements, Dhoni seems to be going through a bad patch without any doubt. He seems to be short of quality bowlers and even his personal performance on the field has been nothing but ordinary. When he has to lead from the front with his own show on the field, MSD has so far been an abject failure which has turned the Indian side into a hapless pack of non performers. As long as this situation continues, England will romp home and the Indians will quickly lose their top rank in the world of cricket.
The next two tests are going to be a huge ask for Dhoni and his boys to outwit the supremely confident English side. If ever that happens, every Dhoni critic will bite his tongue and the Indian skipper will have the last laugh ! It is ‘now or never’ for Dhoni and Team India.