Dhoni's Time and split captaincy option for India?

And again the questions will start ringing, the whispers will become louder and every Tom Dick and Harry like me, will have an opinion of the way forward.

India has, apart from an anti-climatic finish, been part of a wonderful series which though was lost in a fashion completely unexpected, going by evidence from the previous four ODIS.

India was at least, in the bowling department annihilated, humiliated and painfully exposed. The one positive is that it can only get better from here. The Indians could not afford soft dismissals but the wickets of Virat Kohli, Shikhar Dhawan and Suresh Raina (whose dismissal was more of a mind game) neutralized Rahane’s silken batting who almost single handedly kept the Required Run Rate to around 10.3 for 8-10 overs. 

However it was a freak match, something that happens very rarely and much cannot be read into it.

Indian media being the Indian media will obviously point the blame to captain of the Indian Team. It is an occupational hazard.

The question I would like to bring out is, would it be so bad for Dhoni to step down from captaincy.This is not a knee-jerk reaction but a chance to get new ideas and a new way of thinking onto the field for the next cycle of cricketing life.

It is hard to be an exceptional finisher, captain and wicketkeeper at the same time. Even AB De Villiers is finding it tough which is saying something. To do it with the success Dhoni has had for a long period is laudable but it is time now, not to give up the gloves- he still has much to offer as player- but to become a respected senior.

I feel Dhoni has mostly done all he can and needs to concentrate on other important responsibilities now that he is getting older. The reinvention- not only of himself but of the team at the 2015 world cup will be his greatest feat, equal to winning the trophy in 2011.

This is where the problem starts.

One would assume that Kohli is the captain in waiting and rightly so. Once Dhoni gives up limited overs captaincy Kohli will take over or at least that’s the plan.

However to me, observing the success of other teams with split captaincy roles, it seems to me that Kohli and the team would be better served if he remains as the star of the Indian cricket team in the limited over formats, not a leader (officially).

It will give him more focus for planning for test matches, ease in doing what he does in the limited overs format (score runs, break records to name a few) and this can actually prolong his career.

The million dollar question is who will replace Ms Dhoni? Ideally it should be someone whose place in the side is sure.

Which gives three options- Rohit Sharma, Ajinkya Rahane and R Ashwin.

Rohit is ideally suited for being the T20 captain with his success in the IPL giving evidence that he will do a good job. He is already a proven player and this added responsibility may just lift his game just as it has done with his performance for the Mumbai Indians.It’s not a sure bet but definitely worth a try.

Rahane, with his starts in the first four ODI’s and free flowing 87 at Mumbai should have done enough for him to be thought of as a long-term number 4 with him silencing his detractors at his pace of scoring.His next goal should be to be more consistent and to multiply his starts. Will it harm his long-term development if he gets captaincy at this stage of his career when he is still consolidating?

He is clearly respected and has calm demeanor and the selectors have shown faith in him by making him the captain during the Zimbabwe series.

Dhoni may play a pivotal role for this to happen. He should be captain until such a stage comes and may be a guide for Rahane until then.

                                                                                               

And then there is Ashwin who has in the last 12 months been the major hope along with Ishant Sharma for the Indian bowling to have some chance of picking 20 wickets in a test match. His 60 balls in an ODI are gold dust on flat tracks. He has proved that he is attacking and has a smart cricketing brain.

He surely would be a good choice with either Rahane or him leading the One Day outfit.

Regardless, Dhoni’s role in this scenario will be really delicate and important.

And then there is Virat Kohli who clearly wants to be the captain, which is not a bad thing actually but I feel this option would give him better focus and less stress.

He is the ideal test captain who, although sometimes ultra-aggressive and over-optimistic of our bowling resources, makes things happen.

The example of South Africa is suitable here- with Amla the test captain while De Villiers and Du Plessis leading the One Day and T20 teams respectively and all three complement each other and have had reasonable success.

It is the best way to bring the best out of each player for the team and must definitely be given a thought upon.

But…Will Dhoni agree? …Will Kohli agree?

Will the BCCI agree? 

---ASHESLORE- Tales in England --- Pros Anderson and Broad catching the youth fever?

At the first Investec Test Match between Australia and England in Cardiff, we witnessed an all-round bowling performance from the England. Yes, the Aussies also picked up 20 wickets but as Stuart Broad says they didn't adapt to the nature of the pitch fast enough. Before this test match it seemed as if England had the same slew of right hand fast medium seamers. They seemed predictable and dull on a dry surface. 

Suddenly we find that there is variety in this bowling line-up too. The swing of Anderson, the bounce of Broad, seam from Stokes and the Pace from Wood.

In this article I am mainly presenting my views on the English bowling performance of the two pros Stuart Broad and James Anderson and the reasons for their success.

regaining the joy

rediscovering his potential

There was one more thing equally, if not more important that contributed to their success. The attitude of Ben Stokes and Mark Wood. 

They bowled with spirit, they bowled with vigour, they bowled to express their joy.

 Most importantly, they rejuvenated Anderson and Broad. They caught the youth fever of playing aggressive uninhibited cricket which they used to in their younger days.
Though it is possible that the young core of 'New England' was 'Made in New Zealand', the youth shows us a changing face of English cricket and its move from attritional  and a safety first approach to a fluid and proactive one.

youth fever spreading?

 The new ball spell from Anderson and broad on the fourth morning was as good as any we have seen in recent times from them. They were controlled, aggressive and relentless.

We are seeing a new core of young enthusiastic players come up who are not scarred by previous tours. They have a vibe about them and essentially in this test match, the youngsters have led the way forward and shown the experienced how to play without fear.

In attempt to nullify the effect of their decreased speeds Anderson and Broad have many times been at fault of bringing their length back. This was in full view at Headingly against the black caps when the English Bowlers got smacked around for 454 in just 91 overs.

The experience Broad and Anderson showed, coupled with a new found vigour helped them complement each other beautifully. They bowled a fuller length at the start and  bowled according to strict plans to each batsman. Warner was denied width, they bowled a 5^th stump line to Smith who constantly shuffles across, and just aimed at the stumps or more precisely the huge trunk Watson has for a leg to effect a leg before Watson.. sorry wicket.

However the striking thing which I observed, though seemingly insignificant was a show of their skill and expertise. The Cardiff pitch not seaming and swinging after the new ball, they pulled their lengths back slightly to exploit the variable bounce in the surface and consistently bowled a stump to stump line. 

At one point of time Anderson actually bowled 3 consecutive maidens and Moeen Ali was rewarded with the wicket of Clarke.

Another aggressive move was Broad coming on to bowl 10 overs before the new ball could be taken.  His reward- Leg Before Watson i.e he got Watson out LBW.

There is another reason why Broad’s and Anderson’s potency has increased. It is due to the sustained pressure placed by Stokes and Wood. Previously the pressure the pair creates would inevitably get released by the back-up bowlers. The bulk work had to be done by this pair and thus they started bowling with speed and verve only during critical periods.

A revealing stat tells us that since 2010 Anderson and Broad have bowled the most balls in test cricket. No wonder they have become a bit more cautious. They, Anderson in particular, are testimony to longevity, skill and fitness in comparison to their workload

partners in crime overburdened?

Thus in the Cardiff test it felt like they were almost rediscovering the  joy and pleasure of bowling as they could bowl high-octane relentless spells due to support from the back-up bowlers.

On a larger note, this win for the English has changed many things. Many though that the pitches would be prepared to nullify Australia’s Pace battery. However with the Australian batting comparatively more insecure than that of the English, one might be tempted to think that the Lord’s pitch would be seamer friendly, even more so after the comprehensive performance of the English seamers. They would however be wary of the situation that befell them when they prepared a green pitch against India.

I conclude with anderson’s apt words during the New Zealand tour.

"We're trying to be aggressive and attacking with our fields and the lines and lengths we bowl. The players we have in the team - the likes of Mark Wood or Ben Stokes - are naturally attacking cricketers, so guys like that are moving us forward. We're looking to play the same sort of cricket as New Zealand and Australia and fight fire with fire.

"It is rubbing off on us, I think. It's good for someone like me who's almost over the hill to get these guys giving you a kick up the backside. You can't help but admire the way they play and try and do that as well."

---ASHESLORE- Tales In England---New England UpROOTing Dad’s Army ?

Of all the one liners I have scripted (heading or otherwise) I feel no greater satisfaction than having thought of the above title. (It has nothing to do with the wordplay).

These five letters have, in essence, described what I hope to describe in, say, 500 odd words.

We all know England had caught the New Zealand disease of playing aggressive cricket reasonably consistently even if that was in greater show during the limited overs format.

It does help when their identified talents and emerging players like Moeen Ali, Ben Stokes and Jos Buttler are in good nick and have started to slowly carve their own niche in the team and influence the outcome of the game even more.

 Australia has decided to enter a new era with old players. Hence the term dad’s army.

As far as I recollect smith is the only batsmen playing who is under 26 years of age.

However I digress. What I am going to say was thought of well before and the first test has confirmed it. It is the basis for my analysis.

The point of this article is plain and simple- it is not as bad for England as one thinks. I feel they have more than a chance wining the ashes. There are 3 reasons. One reason is obviously home conditions and support.

The other reason is a combination of various factors.

 Even with the no. 1 batsman in the team Australia’s batting line-up is not scoring as much as it should. Heck, Hazlewood plays with a straighter bat than Watson. The bottom five on numerous occasions have scored the same if not more number of runs as the top six (minus smith). If England can prepare pitches similar to that against the new Zealand series the Australian top order will get under pressure. Suffice to say Australia’s batting is not as secure as the scorecard shows.

The first test at Cardiff was* crucial. Though termed slow, ball still is conventionally swinging pretty much throughout the day and it is turning reasonably and has variable bounce. As of now England have rattled Australia.* If England win ( more than likely) they can rattle Australia. They can shock them. Usually we see in 5 test match series the team which wins first gets that needed momentum which is very important.

Alistair Cook has started batting almost close to his best. He now faces a different problem. Previously he led mainly through example and hard graft. After returning to the squad after the ODIs cook must feel like a guest who is arriving to a raucous night part quite late. The youngsters ( relatively) are the forerunners for proactive game and how he develops the attacking spirit brought in from Eoin Morgan is a defining moment. He did signal his intent by trying to play aggressively but in vain. Aggressive batting is not Cook. It need not be. You need a grafter amidst stroke-makers. Cook’s role is to encourage stroke makers play without fear. If they do so Australia will be challenged.As he himself says, that it will be a different challenge to lead this bubbly team. A good challenge.

moeanalitharan?

Moeen Ali. Opponents underestimate him. Opponents try to hit him out of the attack. Opponents starts aggressively and hit boundaries. Opponents get carried away. Opponents lose wicket. They change his name to Moeenalitharan. Smith, Clarke, Haddin etc.Whew!!! Not to mention that he must be the best no. 8 batsman to play as of now.

Stokes. Probably the most promising allrounder since Botham and Filntoff. His attitude of playing fire with fire will create fissures in the Australian team. Coming of a wonderful series against the black caps he has learnt the art of mixing aggression with consistency. Watch out Australia.

Mark Wood and Jos Buttler are the dark horses whose careers will get a big boost with a commendable Ashes performance. They have impressed everyone. Jos buttler is due a big knock. He averages 50 without having hit a century. Wood has impressed everyone with his pace and attitude.

The old pros- partners in crime Anderson and broad are vital in this series. One has passed 400 and the other is approaching 300. Though not having pace to match their Australian counterparts, they make it up with their guile.

Bell and Ballance on current form and to some extent Lyth (on his first ashes series) look vulnerable.  Underestimate them at your own peril. Ballance has had a wonderful career so far. However I feel Australia and in particular Starc will test his lack of feet movement by bowling those full swinging deliveries. Despite being short on confidence and runs he made 61 in the first innings without looking assured at any stage. But he did make those runs.

the likely hero?

All said and done it is Joe Root who will have a defining impact on this series. He is the glue in the middle order. Joe Root got first hundred of this series which he hopes is the first of the many. His attacking cricket has rubbed of others. He, though young in years has shown maturity beyond it and knows that however successful he was in the preceding months, Ashes is ultimately the barometer on the basis of which he gets judged on. He has had a good start, expected but ominous for the Aussies.

All these seems a to be far-fetched guess... Deductive reasoning (ahem) but these are signs which I noticed. For all we know Starc will produce toe crushers, Johnson will again come in nightmares of the English players. Bowlers will take legal action against Smith for scoring heavily.

For all we know.

But I still say England is winning this one. I can’t predict the margin. But they will.

It is because of the third reason. Gut Feeling.

All right you can snort. We will see after two months.

Maybe that’s why you should've have just read the title.

Brad Haddin in the pre-ashes coverage once said he did not understand what the hype around England was.

 I don't really understand the hype around that one-day Series. We'd just come off a World Cup. I don't understand what the excitement is about, and what this new found form England found in that format.  if you could explain to me what it is.

Brad, have New England explained to you what the hype is about in Cardiff? I hope so.

* this analysis has been written during the fourth day of the Investec Ashes series between Australia and England

The Indian dilemma-an expensive tear way fast bowler or a accurate medium pace surgeon ?

Ms Dhoni

"This win is good, but we need to make a decision if we want quick bowlers or if we want good bowlers even if they are not quick. We have been backing too many quick bowlers who haven't been bowling well," 

You will laugh at ms Dhoni.

 That the team reached the semi-finals of the world cup was mainly due to the bowlers picking up 77 wickets from a maximum of 80 wickets.

Dhoni however was referring to Umesh Yadav’s performance in particular.

After Umesh Yadav’s performance in the match against Bangaldesh, Dhoni does have a point.

After his success in the world cup he was richly praised for having learnt and improved. However after recent performance it seems he is not able to adapt.

And he is just an example. Due to the fact that India played most of their matches abroad in 2014 and a wonderful world cup in terms of bowling performance their overall figures are good.

However the underlying fact is in the past 18 months no bowler apart from Mohammed Shami has been able to combine brisk speed with accuracy. Bhuvneshwar Kumar has accuracy but isn’t threatening after the new ball though he is improving. Aaron has speed but no accuracy.

fast and effective

 Let us take six Indian pacers who are more or less in the frame now and see their speed.

Umesh Yadav and Varun Aaron are ultra fast.

Ishant Sharma and Mohammed Shami are fast

Mohit Sharma and Dhawal Kulakarni are brisk

Though Bhuvneshwar Kumar has increased his speed he is clearly the slowest of the lot.

Umesh Yadav had a wonderful world cup and an agreeable IPL. He was the leading wicket taker in the world cup with 18 wickets.

However, in the series against Bangladesh he has gone for over 7.58 runs per over. That is clearly too expensive for a strike bowler.

Varun Aaron has played 5 ODIs and he was too expensive going at above 7 runs per over. It was telling that little known Harshal Patel pipped him to be Royal Challengers Bangalore’s Indian bowler. This after he was touted to lead the attack for his IPL franchise.

Ishant Sharma had a poor IPL after returning from injury.

Shami is injured but has been a vital part of the Indian line up.

That vibe about Mohit Sharma is no longer present. After being the dark horse on the World Cup, he has fared badly in the IPL and the current tour.

It is too early to say anything about Dhawal Kulkarni. Bhuvneshwar Kumar has improved by leaps and bounds and has always been a quiet achiever.

MS Dhoni is always blamed with managing his bowling resources badly. There may be some truth in it. However, we see that the bowlers are really inconsistent and are not able to string more than two good games on trot.

As Mcgrath said, raw pace in India is an unnatural phenomenon. Indians are used to seeing other countries have 140 plus bowlers. Ours was a line and length tradition. The conditions also don’t help or suit a fast bowler to become one in India.

So naturally all of us felt excited when we could say that we have two or three 145kmph bowlers in our country who could hit the deck, bounce out Australians and keep the batsmen honest.. Raw pace is exciting but without control it means nothing.

Varun Aaron’s first class record wouldn’t have got him into any team. It was his deemed potential and his unnatural speed that gave him that opportunity

Experts said to give them time to grow and develop.

So they were given. But the conclusion is unclear.

I come back to what ms Dhoni said. India needs to choose

Fast or medium. Tear away or surgeons.

However there are a few problems. In the subcontinent the conditions are such that bowlers focus more on line, length and swing than pace. So a dhawal kularni or a Bhuvneshwar Kumar will be more handy here. In England, South Africa and Australia one needs that extra pace to trouble the batsmen. Umesh yadav and Shami’s success in the world cup was testimony to that.

So one option maybe to create a crop of bowlers for oversees and for subcontinent. (This is never going to happen.)

 The other is continue to invest in the faster bowlers and set up an ideal combination of the faster and medium fast bowlers.

One can accept if a fast bowler leaks a few runs but picks wickets but the two ultra fast bowlers have not been able to do that.

 Umesh Yadav has to be given more chances and time to develop. A wonderful World Cup performance should not be undermined.

15-20 years back a medium fast pace bowler would be able to contribute well if he was smart and canny enough.

Nowadays it is almost imperative to have that X-factor present in terms of speed as the batsmen have become much adept, skilled and armed with heavier bats. Not to mention the current ODI rules(which have changed) and the pitch which is increasingly becoming batsmen-friendly.

This inconsistency was becoming the case in the last few years. The world cup camouflaged it. However Dhoni’s words may have been said in frustration but it does put Indian cricket in dilemma they had postponed.

The team has reached crossroads as the combination of bowling attack reflects the level of intent and the plan of the team.

This is something that carefully needs to be thought of and will be known when the Sri Lankan tour starts.

New Zealand and the art of being consistently brash

Oh I don’t know. I guess brash is too… brash a word to describe their brand of cricket but what to do?  Aggressive, intimidating, active, dynamic etc have already been used. (Not to forget reckless).

 My analysis is pertaining only to one-day internationals and to test matches to some extent.

However sometimes you do get the feeling that they are being reckless. They are taking the so called brand of positive cricket too far. For purists it almost seems rude.

Sometimes. Almost

McCullum.

McCullum's savage assault on Steven Finn during world cup

If any one else attempted to play like McCullum( except say, Gayle) they wouldn’t last 10 balls.

In the world cup he lasted 19 balls per match. Its true.

 Just imagine what would happen if he could take a bit more time and try to play at least say 20 overs of an ODI. The bowlers would delegate their role to bowling machines.

Even in the field he goes all out searching for wickets. So much so that his lead bowler bowls out by the 30^th over and his part-timers are learning the art of death bowling.

This form of expansive cricket isn’t very consistent. When you play like this there are going to be many one-sided games. Suddenly the tactical genius of Brendan seems clever by half as can be seen in their match against England recently.

It has rarely happened. The black caps have taken McCullums’s attitude to heart. They talk about being positive. And they walk the talk consistently. So much so that people don’t mind that odd one-sided game knowing that when they watch a game in which the black caps play there is something happening every moment.

That’s why they have become the second-best team for every non- New Zealander (mostly).

How is it that they are so consistent with a brand of cricket whose outcome is so inconsistent?

How are they playing cricket in such a ‘rude’ fashion and succeeding more often than not?

Well each player knows his role for a start. It helps when you have the bowlers to back your strategy. It helps even more when all the players are in form.

However the ‘positive’ mindset has different reference here. It doesn’t always necessarily mean aggressive. It means an inhibited style of play. Some players like McCullum and Ronchi play with gay abandon while others like Williamson and Taylor are able to play their natural risk-free cricket ad going for their shots only when they can do so. There is no pressure on any of them to play in a particular way unless of course the situation demands it.

Boult and Southee are given the freedom to ball attacking lengths irrespective of the runs they concede. This freedom is allowing them to play with a clear mindset.

The cohesion and the bond of the team we see know makes it impossible to believe that the team was in the process of falling apart 3 years ago.

There has been so much discussion on the Talyor-McCullum-Hesson(the coach) saga that I don’t think I need to discuss it.(yet again)

Another thing about this team is that they completely back their players. It is harder to get into this team than to get out. There has been stability. This security has not led to complacency but increased motivation. The bench strength ( especially in case of the bowlers) is promising.

All the players know their roles.

For example

McCullum needs to murder the new ball.

Guptill needs to caress it

Williamson’s the anchor

Ross Taylor needs to consolidate

Southee needs to pick wickets

Boult needs to pick wickets

Well… you get the idea.

the wicket-taking combo?

New Zealand 5-10 years back was a steady if unspectacular side. Although having promising players they weren’t able to consistently play well and win those big moments in the game.

Today we see that they accept that there will be days when their plans look more like an attempt to increase their TRP. 

There will be days when they will be given a dose of their own medicine.

There will be days when their attacking cricket doesn’t work.

But they will be attacking and agressive anyway.

They are prepared to lose to win, if that makes any sense.

But the great thing is that they are playing this style of cricket with ease. The losses are just minor blips on the way. There is definitely going to be a stage when it becomes hard to play with such freedom.

There are going to times when the team realizes that it is one thing to play this brand of cricket with in-form players  and absolutely another when the players lack confidence and are not at their best.

I just hope the black caps can postpone that period as long as possible and make this attitude contagious to other teams as well.

 Their style has hit us like a cool winter breeze in the summer heat.

 It has come at a time when the general feeling was that most teams did not get the incentive to go for win in test matches. That most teams went through a period in ODIs were they let the game drift so much that new rules had to be implemented to force the teams to attack and make things happen all the time.

At a time when the financial viability of test matches in countries except in Australia and England was in doubt the New Zealand team has changed the mindset of the fans and players alike.

 This has been aptly phrased by an advertisement for ongoing the NZ tour of ENG

The men who invented the game VS the men who are reinventing it.

When one is 

1.  Restructuring or reinventing the style of the play

2. Trying to attract the crowds back to the longer formats, 

Maybe brash is the way to go about it.

Just so long it is consistently brash.

BHUVI 2.0- From a talented bowler to an evolved bowler

"I love playing with him and I always wanted to play with him on a big stage. Today my wish was fulfilled. He is my idol and I have learnt a lot from him. Every time I play with him, I learn something and today was no different,"

I will give you five chances to guess who bhuvneshwar kumar’s cricketing idol is?

I can even give you a hint; he is a indian swing bowler.

No?

Praveen Kumar. Yes that’s his role model. I bet you wouldn’t have guessed that in a thousand years.

Why p.kumar you think. Well both play for the same club in meerut for a start. Also having the same surname helps. Just kidding.

Bhuvneshwar kumar’s first rose to fame for being the first bowler to dismiss sachin tendulkar for a duck in ranji trophy. I am not sure if he is still the only one with that record.

When bhuvneshawer kumar first came to the international scene one had a familiar feeling about him.

 A genuine swing bowler with a middling pace.

 Rp singh, irfan pathan and Praveen kumar came in strongly before losing steam due to loss of form, injury and mercurial temperament (respectively to a certain extent).

What a debut bhuvneshwar kumar had- he picked up a wicket with the first ball of his international career.

In that marathon innings where chris gayle scored 175 and RCB 250+ bhuvneshwar playing for pune that time went for only 26 runs in his four overs.

Evolved Bhuvi

Every match, every series he played he was doing a decent if not spectacular job.

He was slowly rising and improving till the inevitable happened-he got injured. Many feared that he would become a part of the group of bowler who came onto the big stage, showed promise and faded into oblivion.

The fear was turning to reality when we saw him being prematurely grafted into the playing 11 in the last test of the recent series against Australia.

It was painful to see him bowl at 115 kmph, 10-15 kmph lower than usual.

Even more painful to see him being carted around by Ryan Harris.

Before coming into the tour he was clearly a rising hero. He won the man of the series in England for gritty batting and street smart bowling. However there were concerns.

He was a surgeon with a new ball. Give the pitch a little spice and he will work you over. However he couldn’t bowl well in dry conditions. He couldn’t bowl consistently in the middle periods. His pace was fodder for big, strong batsmen with big, strong bats, especially in the death overs. He lacked variations.

Coming to Australia it was felt that he would suffer the most due to lack of lateral swing prevalent there, his main strength.

Injury has not deterred him. On the contrary he has come back stronger and has become more versatile and adaptive, at least in the limited overs format as was evident from the IPL.

It is worth noting Ravi Shastri’s favourite comment about Bhuvi.

“he is a steady bowler who plays within his limitations”

Well, I guess he has just removed those limitations.

He has increased his pace, can bowl yorkers at will and has a good bouncer to keep the batsmen honest. This just increases the threat of his swinging deliveries.

The Yorker. All of us talk about bowling it but almost nobody actually bowls it.

Almost.(ahem-malinga and starc)

 It is not present in the Indian book of bowling. Mohammed Shami is one bowler in recent times who is able to bowl the yorker.

However Bhuvi has made that art as a hobby bowling them at will as was evident in the IPL.

It is almost as if he says, “You big, strong batsmen with your big strong bats do whatever you want. I am going to bowl in between your big, strong legs and big, strong bats and break the middle of the middle stump.”  

And he walks his talk.

In midst of all the hype of Boult and Steyn, Bhuvi has quietly emerged as the highest wicket taker of his franchise- the Sunrisers Hyderabad.

He has become more consistent with the new ball as well giving very few bad balls.

It is telling to see his success over other ‘fast-er’  Indian bowlers like Varun Aaron and Umesh Yadav who though had the odd good spell, were inconsistent and wayward.

He had even piped Ishant Sharma as the main bowler in his IPL side. 

Bhuvneshwar kumar has clearly come to this level with more hard work than talent.

We can see his dedication, his focus and his passion even though he is a comparatively restrained player.

Bowls, gets a wicket, performs the customary high-fives and then goes back to his run up.

No fuss, no muss.

For me, in the last 1 year or so all the Indian bowlers have definitely become better but it is Bhuvi who has evolved to the next level.

He may not get the pace of his Indian bowling mates but still is outperforming them.

He is that kind of a player who everyone wishes does well.

Hopefully his graph keeps going up and then one day Praveen Kumar will say,” Bhuvi is my role model.”

A bit premature but I did say hopefully.

His second stint with India awaits him.

Can he carry on his present form?

I hope so.

MS Dhoni the 'finisher' and Rahane the ' accumulator'... time for a reversal in roles ?

An ODI is being played in India. It is the 40^th over. First or second innings, it doesn’t matter. Suresh Raina gets out.

A moment of silence from the crowd. A moment of jubilation for the opposition team.

Emphasis on A MOMENT. After that the situation is reversed for the crowd and the opposition team.

Why?

MS Dhoni walks in. This has been the case for years now (well, not the Raina getting out part). And he has been living up to their expectation more often than not.

Dhoni isn't a technically gifted batsman as compared to other batsman in team.

Then why this expectation? This is because he knows how to play those big moments in the game better than the most. It also helps being one of the best finishers of the game.

Here are some stats to prove my point

There have been 82 matches won by India while chasing which included Dhoni who has batted on 58 occasions out of which he has been not-out in 38 matches. All in all he averages 109 in matches that he has won batting second. One might say that lots of not-out has helped in achieveing that Bradmanesque average, which is actually testimony to his finishing skills.

In the first innings, he has batted 63 times and has scored his runs at a strike-rate of 106 and an average of 57.

Just incredible.

He is India’s best no 6, though he is perfectly capable of playing higher up too.

 If the recent past are anything to go by, we are seeing a rare skill on decline. We have started expecting so much out of him that in the recent games he has not been able to finish it as much as he would have liked to.

Take the world cup for example. Against Pakistan and South Africa, wonderful platform had been created for a final push in the last five overs. He kept finding the fielders and got out in both innings trying to pull a delivery. He couldn't finish it like he always does. 18 of 13 and 18 of 11 against Pakistan and South Africa respetively just isn't Dhoni. He couldn't handle the pace and the bounce and a few boundaries hit against a wayward Wayne Parnell (nice twist isn't it?) of South Africa helped improve his score.

                                    

Not 'THE' finisher anymore?

Dhoni of the old could come in and get set to murder the cricket ball almost immediately. Recently we are seeing that he is finding it difficult to get going immediately and is taking his time.

He is milking singles and doubles but finding it tough to get those boundaries he used to summon at will. The helicopter has not bee seen in a while. Those last over sixes are declining.

 "I'm 33," he had said after India's World Cup exit. "I'm still running, I'm still fit." That he is. But his batting specifically his hitting prowess has shown signs of decline. In the ongoing IPL he might play those blistering innings which may remove concerns of his finishing ability. However the fact is that he is not able to do his role with that unnerving consistency that was his specialty.

So why not push him up the order and give him an anchoring role after Virat Kohli. He is able to rotate strike very well and is able to score at run-a-ball without taking too much of a risk. He is still one of the best wicket-keeper batsman around if not the best, at least in limited overs cricket in the country. All this calls for his promotion up the order. If it weren't for Virat Kohli, I would say that he should come one down.

Ajinkya Rahane has had a promising test career so far. An average in excess of 40 might not seem much but look closer and you will see that he has played all but one test outside India. He has cemented the no 5 spot and that century at lords on a seaming pitch still was one of the greatest counter-attacks in recent times.

In contrast he has not yet been able to show that consistency in the one-day format. A stop-start career did not help. Apart from a free-flowing 79 against South Africa he hasn't made much of an impact as middling average combined with a middling strike rate shows.

Batting at no 4, he has not yet understood his role and has not been able to to find the right balance between attack with defense. Either he plays too slowly as his innings against Bangladesh showed or he tries to attack every delivery.

It will be good to push him down the other at 5. Give him the role of finishing an innings. Let him be clear of his role. If the past is anything to go by we have seen Rahane is at his best when he is not bogged down by thoughts and when he plays instinctive and free-flowing cricket. He is, on his day, a free flowing batsman.

Right now he is confused and is continuously coming to bat in contrasting situations which he isn't able to adapt to.

He just needs more time to find his groove. An average in the 40s and a strike rate above 90 is what we need of him.

Suresh Raina , should, unfortunately for him come at 6 for the good of the team. We see that at present there is no one else who has been able to finish games with his consistency( apart from MS Dhoni). An average of 36 is misleading and tells us of what he could have become but i digress from our object of discussion. 

This change in batting order will clear a lot of problems which are definitely going to creep in if the Dhoni and Rahane do not perform at 6 down and 4 down respectively. One will not finish effectively while the other will not anchor with consistency.

It is telling how effortlessly Rahane was playing Steyn and Morkel while Dhoni was clearly struggling to hit against their pace and bounce in that world cup match. 

It is time for a reversal in roles, don't you think?