Through the lean times, and there have been plenty away from home in the last three years, MS Dhoni has always stressed on the process as opposed to result. In 2011 and ’12, transition was the name of the game. With a younger generation now at the forefront, the new buzzword is patience. For fans, it’s wearing thin.
After Lord’s, the talk from the Indian camp was of steady progress. After consecutive hammerings, by 267 runs and by an innings and 54 runs, it’s hard to make a case for the side moving in the right direction. But even as he was downcast by the defeat inside three days in Manchester, Dhoni glimpsed silver linings that few others could.
“You have to judge everything,” he said. “And by everything, I mean you also have to see the bowling performance. In the last Test, we could not get enough wickets. The moment you don’t get enough wickets, you can’t really win. You can only get a draw out of it.
“The first two Test matches, the performance of our batsmen got camouflaged. Stuart [Binny] got runs in the first Test, along with [Mohammed] Shami, Bhuvi [Kumar] and others. No one really said we were playing with one batsman less, so it’s up to the batsmen to take the responsibility.
“If you see, that trend continued with the batting department. It is just that the lower order did not contribute in this Test match. But the major improvement was in the bowling department. If there was some kind of assistance, we got the opposition out, which I feel is important to win a Test match.”
No one can accuse Dhoni and Duncan Fletcher of a lack of faith. Most players have been given one match too many than one too few. Yet, Fletcher’s obsession with a No. 8 who can bat – a feature of the England sides he coached – may be preventing India from putting their best XI on the park.
Interestingly, it seems to be a fetish that Dhoni shares, despite there being no blue-chip allrounder in the squad.
Ravindra Jadeja batted ahead of R Ashwin in both innings at Old Trafford. But where Ashwin batted with composure and confidence in both innings, Jadeja’s approach was laced with recklessness. All that seemed to be missing was a bandana with ‘Banzai’ written on it.
Such an attitude worked perfectly in a pressure situation at Lord’s. His 68 from 57 balls tilted the match decisively in India’s favour. But in most cases, Jadeja has shown a distinct lack of game sense with the bat. When you bat at No. 7, cameos are not enough. Or at least, they shouldn’t be.
“Who do you have to replace him?” asked Dhoni with a hint of belligerence in his voice. “Again, you will fall back on the same thing of going with an extra batsman and not having that fifth bowler when you really need him.
“That is how he plays,” he added, defending Jadeja’s methods. “The more he plays, the better he will get. We are hoping that it happens soon. He will have to back himself to play the same kind of cricket. That is something that will give him the confidence. Hopefully, he will keep hitting the ball.”
With the ball, Jadeja has not been anything more than a restrictive option. Pragyan Ojha took 20 wickets in the four home Tests against England in 2012-13. As a wicket-taking option, he is far superior. As a batsman, especially away from home, Ashwin is streets ahead. For the moment, Jadeja seems to be a compromise selection that isn’t working.
Shane Warne, Sourav Ganguly and several other experts were scathing in their criticism of Dhoni’s leadership in Manchester. In Southampton, he invited the ire of many by using his bowlers in one-over spells. At Old Trafford, he seemed unsure which of his three pace bowlers would share the new ball. Ashwin bowled a decent spell on the first evening, but was barely seen thereafter.
In the context of this series, however, those are relatively minor problems. The main headache centres around the No. 3 and No.4 batsmen, traditionally those entrusted with scoring the bulk of a team’s runs. Virat Kohli’s travails – 108 runs in eight innings – have resulted in an almost forensic examination of his technique, especially his footwork against the moving ball and a dominant bottom hand.
“When it comes to technical knowledge of cricket, I think Duncan has the most experience,” said Dhoni, indicating that the team was well aware of the problem. “He has been helping Virat a lot. Not only Virat, he has also been helping other batsmen. We are talking about people who have been playing cricket for the last 12 or 13 years. Virat may be 23 or 24 [he’s 25], but he has played cricket for some 14 years. He has strong basics of his own, and it is tough to alter it in a few weeks or days.
“You may feel comfortable doing it [making changes] in the nets. But once you go to the middle, there is pressure on you. If you miss a few deliveries, the first thing you do is go back to your basics. That’s your instinct. It will take a bit of time. But as I said, Virat is middling the ball well. It is just a lean period he has to go through. It was bound to happen sometime, if not now then six months down the line.
“He had a lovely two or three years scoring runs everywhere, in all formats. So it’s something he has to go through and it will only make him a better cricketer. So it is not really disappointing for me. After this, we are going into a series against West Indies at home, and then we go to Australia. Then comes the 2015 World Cup. So it’s a crucial period.”
The Dhoni brand of obstinacy has been most in evidence when it comes to Moeen Ali. After getting some tap initially at Trent Bridge, Moeen has settled down to a good rhythm, noticeably increasing the pace at which he has bowled in the last two Tests. Along the way, he has precipitated batting collapses at both the Ageas Bowl and Old Trafford. India, though, continue to treat him as if he’s some part-time trundler. If he was, he might have taken four or five wickets. Occasional enthusiasts don’t end up with 19 wickets at 22.94.
“It is important to be positive,” said Dhoni, seemingly in denial about Moeen’s series figures. “We will lose a few wickets. He is quite a consistent bowler, and uses drift. At the same time, we will have to put pressure back on him. If in doing that, you lose a few wickets, that is still good for you because that pushes the opposition to use their fast bowlers more. That is something we will have to do. Pujara got a tough decision, but he bowled well to get the others out.”
Incidentally, James Anderson and Stuart Broad bowled just nine of the 43 overs in the second innings. Broad was in hospital having scans on his broken nose. Anderson was poorly. India may not rate him as highly as the Australians once rated Erapalli Prasanna, but unless they start to play Moeen with a modicum of respect, a tour that has gone from dreamland to nightmare in the space of two weeks could have an even more grisly ending.
