Mumbai: After June 21, 2015 – cricket in India has been reduced to an earthquake-hit region. Bangladesh, on the other hand, is rowing towards renaissance on its river filled with delicious fishes. The South Asian country’s love affair with 21 – the number (as February 21 is also observed as the Bengali Language Movement Day) – doubled after the series win against India in Mirpur. But is the situation ripe to play the blame game?
The loss definitely caressed India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s statistics, fans and media calling him the gangster in the entire cowboy business. But the lush greenery of Bangladesh also threw open a few unsharpened territories.
Dhoni’s personal coach, Chanchal Bhattacharya, says it is the dressing room environment that affected the rock star of Indian cricket. But did the team prepare well for the tour?
They may have completed the homework but lost out on the extra marks on cleanliness. The boys were sluggish in their approach and took Bangladesh – who drubbed Pakistan 3-0 recently in their own den – lightly.
The video analyst of the team was clearly on a vacation. A bit of footage study could’ve held them in good stead.
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Against India, Taskin Ahmed and company shone earlier in the 2014 tour as well in the World Cup Down Under. Mustafizur Rahman is the icing on the cake.
Before leaving for the tour, the press conference in Kolkata reeked overconfidence when Team Director Ravi Shastri openly said that the squad doesn’t need a coach. But at times, he comes across just as a stylish orator endorsing his vocabulary.
Nonetheless, Rahman managed to pull the evil strings of 2007 when The Tigers knocked India out of the World Cup. The Greg Chappell era, often called the black period of India cricket, stood behind the curtains and grinned. Even Virat Kohli, the best player in the team, pressed the defensive button when served a free hit.
Instead of tasting the juicy fishes in the Bay of Bengal, the Men in Blue became the ones out of water.
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If a team comprising players like Kohli and Raina have stood tall in front of the Brett Lees and the Dale Steyns, who is a 19-year-old Rahman to shake their confidence? What about the “different level” Suresh Raina was speaking about, ahead of the second ODI?
A few decisions, like leaving out Ajinkya Rahane on the basis of a one-match failure, including an out-of-form Ravindra Jadeja and Dhoni’s unsteady batting order is also questionable in this regard.
On the hindsight, ‘Captain Cool’ was cooler and faster in the N Srinivasan regime where he formed his own set of ideas. From Yuvraj Singh’s ouster to Jadeja’s inclusion in the World Cup squad, he has been blamed for all.
The same Dhoni, who promoted himself up the order during India’s World Cup final triumph in 2011, chose to stay at the bottom in the first ODI. But in the second ODI, he came up the order where the openers could have done the job.
Is he lacking confidence? Inconsistent batting order is a symptom of being whimsical and that painted the harassed picture of Team India in Bangladesh.
Keeping all the failures and Dhoni’s statement of ‘remove me from captaincy if needed’, Team India do not really have an experienced customer to guide the troops. Kohli is an obvious choice but will he be able to handle a tough tour of Sri Lanka, the gutsy Proteas?
The spotlight is now on BCCI’s advisory committee comprising Sourav Ganguly, VVS Laxman and Sachin Tendulkar. As of now, the team needs hydration supplements from confidence builders irrespective of India or Australia.
