Even as India complete the formalities of the round robin, a fragile quake has revealed some deep seated concerns. Even as India move on to taking on neighbours Bangladesh, the defeat to England is hanging heavy like a monsoon cloud, no less.
The match against England was controversial enough to begin with. While it was not the players themselves that contributed to it per se, it was the change of colour in their jersey when playing ‘home team’ England also sporting blue. While the orange created chaos before the match, their bizarre defeat to England had the superstitious believe the change of jersey had brought about bad omen.
But closer to reality, there were tell-tale signs about how India went about the chase. It could be argued that the rather slow start to the chase with Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli was negated by the middle overs. There is, also, however, something to leaving the job late, particularly to a middle order that has not inspired confidence.
And with the middle order coming into focus, it was but natural that the focus would have shifted to former captain and current wicketkeeper-batsman, Mahendra Singh Dhoni. Even in the match against Afghanistan, the result which seemed perilous at best as far as India were concerned, Dhoni’s inability to find the boundary often enough was of concern, a matter raised by all and sundry including former Indian cricketers and captains.
Dhoni’s role in the team, minus the captaincy has been clear cut – carry on like the no.1 behind the stumps and play the job of the finisher. It was interesting that the consensus of voices seemed to suggest there was faith in India’s chase while Hardik Pandya and Rishabh Pant were at the crease. Does that mean that the old guard thinks that the skipper’s time is up, now ominously revealed glaringly in India’s ICC Cricket World Cup campaign for 2019?
To add spice to the drama, while there have been voices of defense in Dhoni’s favour, even after the match against England that ended bizarrely with India losing without really showing the chutzpah to go after the total in the end stages – India could not have been playing for net run rate, there were doubts thrown about the lack of intent and interest in that run chase for not just Dhoni but also, about the team and their strategy.
Could India be deliberately tanking a match to play their desired opponents in the semi-final and was that even possible to do? And at what cost? With Australia fast approaching as the team to beat in everyone’s rear view mirror, was this let up of confidence and momentum wise, even if India outplayed Australia in the round robin?
Harbhajan Singh went on air to state that he had seen Dhoni take it to the finish line enough for the Chennai Super Kings in the Indian Premier League but was at odds to comprehend himself why Dhoni was not able to do it when a second match presented itself. It could be argued that England have arguably a solid bowling attack. But in the day and age where Twenty20 and IPL have become cricket fodder, it is inexplicable why India would not go down chasing rather than look for self-preservation.
And that would seem the crux of the argument – are some of the Indian cricketers playing in fear and with an eye on legacy and/or self-preservation? Although it might seem blasphemous to state that of Dhoni who was the captain of the team when India lifted the World Cup for only the second time in its history in 2011, it is not farfetched. Cricket can do strange things to even champion cricketers.
It then begs the question: if Kedar Jadhav’s head is on the chopping block for lack of intent, has Dhoni’s past reputation saved his?