Border-Gavaskar Trophy (India in Australia) Dec-Jan 2011/12

[Prithvi]

Agree with Ganguly who says Dhoni should be rested for the West Indies series so that he is fresh and ready for Australia. IMO, he should be rested and also he should be asked to play a few domestic games (to test match fitness) just before the team leaves for Australia. If he doesn't play, he doesn't go.

Well, I strongly say drop Dhoni for tests! Yeah, RD can do keeping duties, playing Dhoni just because he is a captain is worthless. When he is not batting well, he can be non playing captain- doing the duties from the dressing room. Just because he is playing, India is wasting a batsman's slot.

 

[Gaurav_7]

Rahul Dravid to keep? And, did you see England test series? Who scored some runs there?

 

[Aalay]

Well, I strongly say drop Dhoni for tests! Yeah, RD can do keeping duties, playing Dhoni just because he is a captain is worthless. When he is not batting well, he can be non playing captain- doing the duties from the dressing room. Just because he is playing, India is wasting a batsman's slot.

Are you kidding me? Tell me one person's name beside Dravid who was scoring runs in England? I know that Dhoni is not consistent in Tests as he is in ODI's but you can't just kick him out.

 

[SaiSrini]

Put aside dropping Dhoni from the test team, dropping him from the captaincy itself is not a wise choice and would affect the team. Its not the time for a new captain to start directly with the Australian tour which is probably the most challenging of tours for any country. Dhoni might be an ordinary batsman in tests, but we are not sure if his replacement would be any better (Parthiv or Saha; KKD is nowhere in picture). Right now, Dhoni is our best choice for captain/wicketkeeper. Our bigger problems are Zaheer Khan and bowling and the fitness of our players.

 

[Sedition]

Not every wicketkeeper can be Gilchrist. If the 7th batsmen is so damn important that you have to drop the captain/keeper, maybe the top 6 should do their tweaking job better.
The ongoing drop Dhoni discussion is just stupid and won't happen unless his keeping and/or captaining take a nosedive.

 

[icyman]

I have said it before, he has been a lucky captain- not a great one. Drop him for the West Indies tour. IMO, he needs to be dropped for the current English one as well.
A new captain in Australia would be quite challenging- but we do have the men to do the job- Give a shot to Gautam Gambhir for the Eng,WI series, lets see how well he does.

 

[Aalay]

I have said it before, he has been a lucky captain- not a great one. Drop him for the West Indies tour. IMO, he needs to be dropped for the current English one as well.
A new captain in Australia would be quite challenging- but we do have the men to do the job- Give a shot to Gautam Gambhir for the Eng,WI series, lets see how well he does.

T20 WC 2007, Champions League 2010, WC 2011 and you call him lucky? Well your definition of lucky surely looks different than a normal one.

 

[timchrist984]

Unless there is another keeper/batsman piling on the runs at domestic level, Dhoni should keep his place. Someone has to keep wickets!

 

[SaiSrini]

Unless there is another keeper/batsman piling on the runs at domestic level, Dhoni should keep his place. Someone has to keep wickets!

We have nobody who is doing that. Parthiv Patel is the better replacement and is the backup keeper, but his ability at test level is still shaky, and also thrusting a new guy into captaincy for the WI tour and subsequently the Australia tour is a big big risk. I would continue with Dhoni, and give him a chance. Only a few months back, he was the toast of the nation, winning the WC for us. The England tour was an injury ridden tour, and nothing went right for us, and majority of the blame goes to BCCI and selectors for scheduling/managing poorly.

 

[aayush93]

Well Most of time when dhoni got batting in England, it was second New Ball which troubled him. In 3rd test he came in when 30-40 overs were left for newball and he scored 70-80 runs.

So for me main culprit was Laxman, Tendulkar and Raina for not batting till 80 overs and then negotiating that Second New Ball.

So, India Need a batsman in place of raina who can negotiate that Second New Ball.

 

[sifter132]

Not every wicketkeeper can be Gilchrist. If the 7th batsmen is so damn important that you have to drop the captain/keeper, maybe the top 6 should do their fried chickening job better.
The ongoing drop Dhoni discussion is just stupid and won't happen unless his keeping and/or captaining take a nosedive.

Indeed. Dhoni has a very good record and deserves the benefit of the doubt for a while longer. If he struggles in Australia and India lose, THEN I think questions could properly be asked. As you say, there are 6 more important batsmen that should be doing their jobs before Dhoni gets blamed.

 

[Gaurav_7]

Unfortunately, that's the thing many people here don't understand. You can't just jump on him because the team has lost and lost badly. He isn't the only one that has to contribute. Plus, I really feel for him with the bowling attacks he gets.

 

[icyman]

T20 WC 2007, Champions League 2010, WC 2011 and you call him lucky? Well your definition of lucky surely looks different than a normal one.

Look closely, he has been lucky. With a bowling attack like that, winning a World Cup was a miracle. We were lucky enough to have SRL in the final, had it been Aus,SAF ,they would have thrashed us black and blue.

Also, Dhoni does seem a bit disoriented when the going gets tough. Unlike Saurav Ganguly, you do not see Dhoni's skills in a high pressure game.

 

[aayush93]

Look closely, he has been lucky. With a bowling attack like that, winning a World Cup was a miracle. We were lucky enough to have SRL in the final, had it been Aus,SAF ,they would have thrashed us black and blue.

Also, Dhoni does seem a bit disoriented when the going gets tough. Unlike Saurav Ganguly, you do not see Dhoni's skills in a high pressure game.

uhmm, we Beaten Australia in Quater Final i think.. you know why we won that game, just because of dhoni captaincy. For Ian Chappel, Dhoni was the best captain of the tournament before it started only.

When Australian were attacking Munaf, he smartly brought kohli and sachin coverup rest of Munaf's Over. He Used Zaheer when it was required.. Australian Could have score 280-290, but it was dhoni captaincy which kept them around 260.


About Bowling Attack, When u have 7 World Class Batsman then who the hell needs Strong bowling attack.

The only problem was that, we were looking to score 380-400 every time. But when we chased, then it was just a piece of cake.

Srilanka Won 1996 World cup with young and weak bowling attack.
Australia Won 1987 World Cup with weak bowling attack.

Both These world cup where held in Sub-continent.

About Dhoni and Ganguly Comparison

Ganguly lost world cup final, Dhoni WOn
Ganguly Lost Asia Cup Final, Dhoni Won
Ganguly Lost tri Series final in Australia, Dhoni won
Ganguly Lost Champions Trophy, Dhoni Yet To Win

So I won't be surprised if Dhoni next trophy is champions trophy.

 

[Gaurav_7]

Look closely, he has been lucky. With a bowling attack like that, winning a World Cup was a miracle. We were lucky enough to have SRL in the final, had it been Aus,SAF ,they would have thrashed us black and blue.

Gosh! Ifs and buts, and that's just not Cricket.

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About Bowling Attack, When u have 7 World Class Batsman then who the hell needs Strong bowling attack.

No, it is needed. Because, not every time 7 world class batsmen are going to pile up scores over 300.