The struggling form of Indian captain – and most versatile batsman – and how to compensate for it? Can we expect Dhoni return to his form against England?
India’s strength is that every one of their players is capable of winning a match through individual brilliance. Even the loss of one of the world’s most dangerous openers was overcome by a middle-order batsman making the transition to the top of the order seamlessly. They have tried to fortify that advantage with flexibility by attempting to shuffle the middle order according to how the openers fare.
Between Rohit Sharma and Gautam Gambhir, Rohit has been the more aggressive batsman and so India have sent in MS Dhoni at No. 3 should Gambhir fall first to steady one end while Rohit attacks at the other. And if Rohit should be dismissed first, like against West Indies, Suresh Raina will take up the attacking role at No. 3. It’s an excellent plan, for a fluid batting order keeps the opposition guessing and batsmen versatile enough to slot into different roles are valuable in the Twenty20 format. The problem, however, is Dhoni’s loss of form.
Dhoni has batted in various positions from No. 2 to 8 and, when in form, he’s played different roles – from sheet anchor to aggressor – successfully. He even considered opening in the World Twenty20 before offering Rohit the job in Virender Sehwag’s absence. In recent times, Dhoni has taken up the responsibility of guiding the innings, holding one end up, scoring at a run-a-ball, letting the other shot-makers attack before joining them.
India have had to manage without a significant contribution from Dhoni so far in this tournament. He struggled during the IPL and carried that indifferent form to England, scoring 6, 9*, 26 and 14 during the warm-ups and group matches. Dhoni batted at No. 3 during those matches ahead of more in-form batsmen.
Teams:
England: PD Collingwood, JM Anderson, RS Bopara, SCJ Broad, JS Foster, RWT Key, AD Mascarenhas, EJG Morgan, GR Napier, KP Pietersen, AU Rashid, OA Shah, RJ Sidebottom, GP Swann, LJ Wright
India: MS Dhoni, Yuvraj Singh, G Gambhir, Harbhajan Singh, RA Jadeja, KD Karthik, Z Khan, P Kumar, PP Ojha, IK Pathan, YK Pathan, SK Raina, I Sharma, RG Sharma, RP Singh
