No time to quit, says Dhoni

Indian captain says he will stay on as England win to take 2-1 lead

The sight of skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni leading the team out of the field after a seven-wicket defeat to England in the third Test here at the Eden Gardens on Sunday held a symbolic value.

India is going through one of the roughest phases in their Test history, and a tricky transitional phase. Can Dhoni lead the team into future?

India no longer have the services of Rahul Dravid and VVS Laxman, while Sachin Tendulkar too is on his last legs. By omitting him from the squad for the fourth Test, selectors, perhaps, have showed pace spearhead Zaheer Khan the exit signal, leaving the Indian team teeming with a set of youngsters. What they require, at this stage, is a leader who can introduce them to the demanding world of international cricket.

Dhoni might not show emotions or engage in verbal battle, but his calm presence on the field and in the dressing room would ease the newcomers’ nerve. But the job is much easier said than done in the changed environment of the Indian dressing room. When India had a few senior cricketers around, Dhoni had a much easier job because shepherding the youngsters was not his task alone.

But in a change room from where some legends are fast disappearing, the burden sits directly on Dhoni, and he acknowledged it. “It’s a difficult task. As a leader this is a challenge thrown at me. It is always good to lead a side when you are performing well.
Leading a side is all about when the team is not doing well; to back the youngsters, back the seniors. The easiest thing to do for me right now is to quit captaincy and stay a part of the side. That’s running away from the responsibility that’s upon us,” Dhoni said after England had chased down the victory target, reaching 41 for three after the fall of early wickets created some artificial excitement in the morning. England, who bowled India out for 247 leaving Ashwin stranded on 91 not out, now head to the fourth Test with a 2-1 lead.

Dhoni might want to stay on, but there’s a hindrance -- his own form. He has never been a batsman who followed the MCC coaching manual; depending more on a technique learned from the streets of Jharkhand, and an inherent aggression. Belligerence was the one element that made Dhoni the cricketer that he’s now. Earlier, you could feel the rush of adrenaline when he walked out to take the guard. You knew mayhem would follow. It’s that supreme self-confidence catapulted Dhoni to the helm.

But it’s different now. The sight of him walking -- often at number seven in Tests -- no longer inspires the same level of conviction. If anything, there’s certain sense of inevitability, a strong feeling of him taking that long walk back to the hut soon. Dhoni needs to recapture that individual aggression, but without sacrificing that layer of calmness around him. It’s quite easy to lose your cool when the team’s performance level drops, and Dhoni hinted at a way forward.

“You feel a bit of pressure to perform because some of the legends are not there, but it is important to get rid of it. Ultimately, as individuals you have to back yourself more than others. At times, individuals start to question themselves before other starts questioning. Self-belief is important,” he said.

Dhoni might be aware that the clamor to remove him from the helm is steadily gathering steam. And if India crashes to another defeat at Nagpur or draw the fourth Test to surrender the series to England, it cries for his blood will gain a few more decibel levels.

 But who will replace him? Virender Sehwag is in the mid 30s, and Gautam Gambhir is struggling and his two fifties in this series showed his struggles more than offering any signs of the left-hander getting back to the run-making ways. That leaves us with Virat Kohli. The Delhiite has progressed remarkably as a batsman in one-dayers, but he hasn’t inspired the same level of confidence at the Test level. Kohli needs some behavioral fine-tuning as well. So Dhoni moves on, getting the space to shape a team for the future.
It will be quite interesting to watch how he adjusts to the changed role as a captain, a job that he once carried with ease.