Let Mahendra Singh Dhoni pace his own finish

Dubai: Ever since ‘MSD’ took over the Indian captaincy some eight years back, he has been no stranger to calls for his head. The latest hue and cry over whether or not Mahendra Singh Dhoni is ‘finished’ as a finisher was just gaining ground when the man decided to give a twist to the tale — though in a somewhat different role.

The Indian captain’s unbeaten 92 off 86 deliveries in the second One Day International in Indore on Wednesday paved the way for India to score a 22-run win over South Africa.

It is understandable that his prowess is likely to diminish as he gets older. This is a phenomenon everyone goes through in all walks of life, as in sport. And compounding the issue is that Dhoni is not a technically sound batsman, say in the class of Rahul Dravid. He is more of a batsman with a phenomenal hand-eye coordination and these batsmen are bound to see their game dip a few notches when their reflexes are on the wane.

Former Indian captain and opener Krishnamachari Srikkanth and Virender Sehwag, to name just two, went through these phases, while even The Wall’s defences were breached time and again in England before he decided to quit. But what is important here is that Dravid decided to hang up his boots on his own.

In Dhoni’s case, the skipper is an intelligent cricketer, knowing that his game was dipping so immediately he quit Tests, where he would have got exposed more than in the limited-overs format. In the shorter versions he is still getting runs in the 30 and 40s at a healthy rate. In the last seven innings, Dhoni’s scores read 92 not out, 31, 5, 20 not out, 69, 47 and 5.

However, batting is only one of the three roles he is playing on the field, as he has also kept wickets and led the team in these games.

For years, Indian cricket fans were yearning for a dependable wicketkeeper-batsman to lend more stability to the batting line-up, especially in shorter formats. It was not so long ago that Dravid was asked to keep wickets so that the Indian team had better balance. Dhoni’s arrival not only solved that issue, it also helped the board find ‘Captain Cool’ in the hottest seat in Indian sports.

Many players have struggled to cope with the demands of Indian captaincy and their performances immediately dipped. Dhoni’s performance on the contrary got better and he thrived under the added pressure.

To judge him on the finishes, or lack of them, is unfair and there seems to be more than what meets the eye. It is still unclear if he is paying the price for his association with the previous regime in the Indian cricket board and the former board chief N. Srinivasan thanks to his role with the Chennai Super Kings.

Those calling for Dhoni’s head also need to see if there is a replacement available in the shorter formats. His departure from Tests has created a vacuum, which is still not filled.

The Indian skipper is likely to assume a different role from now on — an accumulator of runs laced with the odd big shot — a transformation much akin to the Indian ‘Master Blaster’ Sachin Tendulkar towards the end of his career.

Also, needless to say that it is high time that the Gen-X of stars start assuming more responsibility and not just depend on Dhoni to give the finishing touches, which over the years have pushed the team’s inadequacies into the dark.

So, instead of judging Dhoni on the finishes, it would be better if he was allowed to pace his own finish.