Beleaguered Dhoni is still the best bet for India

Cricket Tour Down Under: Jharkhandis cool demeanour is the approach the side needs now

A legion of Indian fans surrounded Mahendra Singh Dhoni for autographs as he strolled into the airport.

He didn’t growl, obliging each one of them with patience, a broad smile, and a few pleasantries.

It was a common yet remarkable sight that offered an insight into the Indian captain. He has lost seven consecutive Tests away from home, four against England and three against Australia, severely denting his record as skipper.

India has now lost nine away Tests, winning five and drawing five under Dhoni, but that sight at the airport proved beyond doubt that the summers in the Southern and Northern hemispheres have only tanned his record not self-belief.

Few things have gone in Dhoni’s direction from the tour of England last year – a strong batting line-up consisting some of the biggest names has misfired consistently, injuries spread like plague through his bowling line-up and intensity was only there in patches when some of them returned, his strategies in Tests came under fire from several quarters, questions were raised about his commitment to Test cricket by his former team-mates, there have been reports of rift in the team, and subsequently calls became stronger to absolve him of Test captaincy.

To top it, he was banned from the fourth Test at Adelaide after being found guilty of slow-over rate during the third Test at Perth.

So, is it time to take the Test captaincy away from Dhoni? Let’s look at some of the contenders.

With over a decade of experience in international cricket Virender Sehwag, who will lead India in Adelaide, would have been a great choice. But the Delhi Dasher himself is struggling for form, as his last Test century away from sub-continent was his 151 four years ago at Adelaide.

Moreover, his recent form too is worrying, just 428 runs from 17 innings and thrusting captaincy on him wouldn’t be a great idea at this stage.

Another candidate is Gautam Gambhir, who did the job occasionally in one-day cricket and not without success too. But like his State-mate, Gambhir too is struggling for runs, and he has just completed two years in Test cricket without scoring a hundred. Low on runs and, probably, confidence too, it would make little sense to push Gambhir to the hot seat.

Then there was this rather outrageous suggestion to make Virat Kohli the captain from a section that is clearly inspired by the risk South Africa took in handing captaincy to a young Graeme Smith and the success that followed. But Kohli is just seven Tests old, and finding his feet at the Test level. It would be in the best interest of the team and Kohli not to burden him with captaincy at this stage, allowing him to develop as a Test batsman.

It’s clear then that Dhoni has the advantage of circumstances even when his personal form has taken a nosedive abroad. Since the England tour, his Test average away from home has plummeted to 26.83, and he has made some questionable decisions on the field.

Situations like allowing Matt Prior and Eoin Morgan score some free runs at Lord’s while employing stingless Suresh Raina and Harbhajan Singh, and spreading field to James Pattinson and Nathan Lyon to give away 43 crucial runs to Australia at Melbourne had called for some more imagination from the captain.

But to borrow an old adage, a captain is as good as his team, and the failure of frontline batsmen that transpired into a modest total has straightway pushed him on to back foot on more than one occasion.

Among all these, Dhoni has not let his ability to stay at the present dip, exuding a demeanor that will convince an onlooker that everything is perfectly under control. It’s a wonderful trait and India needs his poise and pragmatism in these tough times to move ahead and embrace future.