Rahul Dravid believes MS Dhoni
remains the right man to lead India despite his seven straight Test
defeats as captain in England and Australia last year, but, in the near
future, the selectors will need to consider reducing his captaincy
workload in one format to get the best out of him as wicketkeeper and
batsman.
Speaking to Harsha Bhogle and Sanjay Manjrekar on Time Out,
ESPNcricinfo's fortnightly audio podcast to be published on Wednesday,
Dravid said it was important that Dhoni started planning towards
rectifying India's recent overseas record at their next major away
assignment, against South Africa late next year. Dhoni, Dravid said,
would have to play an active role in getting the selectors to pick the
type of players he wants and also open himself up to more ideas and
suggestions than he has shown to do so far.
"From his own personal point of view, you also want to see the best of
Dhoni as a player. He has a lot to contribute as a batsman and
wicketkeeper and we want to see the best of that," Dravid, Dhoni's
predecessor as captain, said. "I don't think we want to lose that and if
that means at some stage, maybe the time's not right now but in the
near future, we have to relieve him of the responsibility from one
format to get the best out of him as a player then I think the selectors
have to take that call." Across all three formats, Dhoni has captained
India in 203 of his 318 matches.
"He has got to have an eye on some of the challenges he faces in his
career, to be seen as a good overseas captain as well. That will be a
function of the team he gets, but he's got to try and have an influence
on the kind of team he gets, the kind of personnel he wants and that's a
process that he's got to start now," Dravid said. "It's a process of
communication and negotiation with selectors, coaches, working on some
of the skill-sets of some of the bowlers and young batsmen coming
through on what is required in a year's time.
"So while he has a micro view of what needs to be done in these [home]
series [against England and Australia], he needs to discuss with the
selectors about the kind of players he wants in South Africa and entrust
them with the job of actually finding those players in domestic
cricket."
The upcoming home Tests are an opportunity, Dravid said, for Dhoni to
show he has learned the lessons from the overseas disappointments of
last year. While acknowledging that many captains would not have
survived in the role after losing seven overseas Tests - Dhoni had
missed the final Test in Australia with an over-rate ban - in a row,
Dravid said Dhoni's successful record prior to last year's poor results
justified giving him another opportunity. "Dhoni has every right to
survive it, because he's Dhoni. He has had a disappointing last year but
he has won India a World Cup, we've been the No. 1 Test side under
Dhoni. If you put pressure on him so early in the piece, or if you try
to change someone like Dhoni now, I don't think you'll get to see what
he's learned from the last year."
According to Dravid, captaining in India and overseas are two vastly
different challenges, largely due to the conditions and the quality of
the team's bowling attack. "When [India are] fielding, you can obviously
see the difference because on the field is where you've got to manage
that bowling attack," he said. "And when you don't have the necessary
skills with the bowling attack, you can start looking a bit defensive, a
bit flustered, bit rattled and start looking around for answers. But
otherwise he's been pretty similar and that's been one of his strengths -
his ability to stay balanced even through the highs and lows of Indian
cricket, to be able to manage and stay in a cocoon, and not get too
affected by what's happening around him."
While Dhoni's calm demeanour and ability to isolate himself from
pressure in times of difficulty was an asset, Dravid said "there are a
lot of good suggestions outside of the cocoon and there's a lot you can
learn and pick up outside of this cocoon as well, which maybe he
sometimes misses out on."
Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir have been stand-in captains in Tests
and ODIs respectively in the absence of Dhoni, but their own concerns
with injury and form in recent times, Dravid said, may affected their
long-term captaincy prospects. Virat Kohli was a good candidate for a
successor in Dravid's eyes, provided he was able to extend the success
he has had for another year. "In the next 12 months, if he has the kind
of 12 months he has had and establishes himself in all three formats of
the game, people are going to seriously have to look at him."
0 comments:
Post a Comment