Even in a multi-team format like IPL, the talk can be more about individuals than teams. Sure there are team loyalists who passionately discuss and debate the performances and fortunes of their respective teams, but with the same level of intensity and perhaps even more intense emotions, there are discussions about Dhoni or ‘Thala’ as their fondly call it. Chennai fans.
After announcing his retirement from international cricket, there seems to be even more interest in Dhoni at this IPL, I guess because it is the only cricket he will be playing from now on.
Chennai started off with a bang in the tournament opener against Mumbai, Rayudu played a blind tackle, but Dhoni’s tactic as captain, hitting for just two balls, was the most persistent memory.
Dhoni, the master of all racing chases, had demoted multiple times and ended up hitting at No. 7 with the match nearly won. This was difficult for many to digest.
In the next game, when Chennai lost to Rajasthan, rather than marveling at Sanju Samson’s hitting and a magnificent victory in Rajasthan, the focus was once again on Dhoni. We can’t seem to help ourselves when it comes to Dhoni.
This time, needing 217 to win, Dhoni kept pushing other hitters up the order, while he remained in the dig. The order rate rose sharply, but there was still no sign of Dhoni.
Fans watched Sam Curran, a 23-year-old Ruturaj Gaekwad, Kedar Jadhav, leave while ‘Thala’ stayed in his seat.
Chennai lost the game, so now there was even more fodder to talk about Dhoni the captain and Dhoni the player.
The point is, promoting others before him worked brilliantly for Dhoni in Chennai’s first game against Mumbai. Sending Jadeja and Curran, two left-handed hitters, made perfect sense in cricket with a left arm spinner forced to throw all four of his overs. The two lefties did the job expected of them, giving Chennai the victory.
However, in the next game against Rajasthan, that a rookie like Gaekwad, a right-hander, was put at bat before Dhoni in a big chase raised his eyebrows even more.
My reading of all this is that Dhoni is the ultimate realist. Always has been. He is someone who will play with Harbhajan Singh at his side and will not pitch him at all in a match, because his mind (which is quite sharp) has assessed that the way the match and the playing conditions have played out, this is not Bhajji’s place. and time to go bowling.
He is happy not to use a man of Bhajji’s stature. Stick to the logic of cricket
Dhoni is also realistic about himself
It’s the same logic that Dhoni applied to himself in both games so far; Dhoni, the captain, is realistic and logical about Dhoni, the batter.
Dhoni is no longer young or in his prime. He has also been knocked out even longer than others. Surely he must have felt that all those hitters, who went before him, had a better chance of breaking immediately to stay on the hunt in the big chase.
Let’s not forget that Dhoni has always needed a little time to get going, now even more. It amazes me that people continue to use Dhoni’s past to justify the present.
The criticism came from all directions, the main point emerging was that a hitter of his stature should be raising the order in such situations.
But stature has nothing to do with current form or current ability. The present form is the present reality, while the stature is permanent; Once you have reached a certain level of achievement, it will stay with you forever. In the case of Dhoni, we have to ask ourselves, who knows his ability better than he himself? In fact, that has been Dhoni’s greatest strength, knowing his own limitations. That has been the main reason for all those great successes that he has had as an individual and as a captain.
That is why Chennai is a successful IPL team because it is led by a man who is a genius at getting the most out of it with limited means. The harsh cricket fact that this Dhoni was not the right man to go to number 5 in this chase was accepted by Dhoni, the captain. He knew his limitations, his form, the match’s lack of practice, perhaps his lack of self-confidence as well, it was a purely tactical move based on reality. He also showed humility.
It was this very self-assessment, this very formula, that led him to promote himself ahead of a fit Yuvraj Singh in the 2011 World Cup final. Yuvi could have been in great shape, but with two players off the track, Dilshan and Murali, both early in their spells, bowling in tandem on a spinning field, and Yuvi being a well-known unstable starter against off-spinning ones, Dhoni, the captain, was clear in his mind. It was time to send a right-hander to thwart the opposition’s plan.
Dhoni is in his prime now, we are in 2011, we are in 50 cricket overs. He can take his time getting in and then unleash the big shots, this is a tailor-made situation for Dhoni the hitter, Dhoni the captain thought.
My only reservation against Dhoni in that match against Rajasthan on Tuesday was that he only got 6 of 9 balls even at that very late stage when the required running rate had risen to 19.33, thus killing even a miracle opportunity.
Having said that, the possibility cannot be ruled out that those three sixes that Dhoni hit, when the game was gone, have increased his own confidence and that some form has also reached Dhoni, the hitter.
For now, in the early days of this IPL, we only see Dhoni, the captain, perform at his best. Dhoni, the hitter, is in the shadows right now. As for the rest of the IPL, I assume that Dhoni, the captain, will remain in front while Dhoni, the batter, will be left a step behind. But not at number 7, that’s for sure.
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