Dhoni's Outburst

[quick4mindia]

The recent leak in the media about how Dhoni went overboard in defending RP and was vehemently opposed to inclusion of Irfaan in the team could not have come in any worse time than this.

Both Dhoni and BCCI have neither accepted nor refuted these charges. This has added fuel to the fire. The speculations may be right after all.

Dhoni's outburst in the media was directed at selection committee members one or more of whom might be responsible for the leak. He also demanded that media be more responsible and not work on speculations. If they think such things have happened then they should also name the person who leaked the news in the first place.

Appears that Dhoni is on an all out war with the selectors. And some of them may really be stupid enough. Things have been blown to such proportions that its now between Dhoni and selector(s). And only one will win. If its Dhoni ...then be ready for King Dhoni for coming 10 years.

This appears was an attempt by one/more selectors to create a rife between players and the captian.
Dhoni rightly said that it will not be the same when he faces RP or Irfaan the next time for sure ...for RP should not think that i will go out of the way to defend him and Irfaan should not think that i am against him. He could not be any more correct.

But the great Indian cricket game has started once more for sure.

 

[Mard]

man you indian guys are just ruining this forum with so many indian thread. why do you people have to post every small news???

 

[quick4mindia]

man you indian guys are just ruining this forum with so many indian thread. why do you people have to post every small news???

So that guys from Pakistan can post replies and ruin this thread further

 

[BoyBrumby]

One wonders why Dhoni would defend RP quite so staunchly, given he's been one of the few failures for India in the series so far but equally the leak suggests mischief afoot. Is MSD not universally loved amongst the commitee members?

 

[Manee]

Surely the leak has to be found and fired?

 

[quick4mindia]

One wonders why Dhoni would defend RP quite so staunchly, given he's been one of the few failures for India in the series so far but equally the leak suggests mischief afoot. Is MSD not universally loved amongst the commitee members?

This suggests that all is not well.....but selectors suck big time....IMO

 

[BoyBrumby]

Surely the leak has to be found and fired?

One would hope so, yes. However the machinations of the Indian board are a wee bit unpredictable to say the least.

 

[Richard]

Given historical Indian selection woes, and given what I know of Dhoni, I'd love little more than to see him "triumph" over some whimsical selection committee member.

Reckon Dhoni wants the best Indian team on the park (wrong though he may be about Rudra Pratap being in such a thing) and nothing else. Most Indian selectors that I've heard of have been notable first and foremost for trying to get as many players from their state in the side, though I suppose there's bound to be some decent eggs in there.

Either way, it's been noted before that selection must have collective responsibility if it's to work to the best level, and one always hopes to see someone who is deliberately trying to undermine that given their marching-orders. It's such a shame it was allowed to carry-on for such a long time with Brian Bolus in England in the mid-1990s.

 

[Precambrian]

This raises an interesting issue.

Should the captain have a final say on the squad given to him?

Ian Chappell, a guy worth listening to, says NO.

He says the selectors are given a job to do that, and that the captain is to make best use of available resources. He says the current practise of captains having a big say originated recently.

 

[Arjun]

This should never have been made public knowledge. It's too sensitive an issue.

Dhoni, however, seems to be a man with a close club around him, a lot like some previous Indian captains. This may end up with several talented players missing out on India caps and less worthy ones enjoying a long run in the team despite extended slumps in form. It has happened before, in the Ganguly regime. We've seen Rahul Dravid, an abomination behind the stumps, get one match too many as a wicketkeeper, despite the presence of decent wicketkeepers to pick for ODIs. The selectors had thought of getting in Parthiv Patel, who was a decent pick at the time, but Ganguly vehemently opposed the idea and persisted with Dravid. The result was that the Indians were found chasing too many 300 and over totals, often too much for even seven batsmen.

When such things happenor are likely to happen, when an exclusive club forms around the captain, the selectors have to put their foot down. They have to remind the captain that this is Team India, and not the Captain's Best Men.

All said and done, RP Singh's regression as a one-day player is shocking.

 

[Richard]

Really?

I've never yet rated Rudra Pratap as anything other than a wholly poor ODI bowler myself TBH.

 

[Arjun]

Really?

I've never yet rated Rudra Pratap as anything other than a wholly poor ODI bowler myself TBH.

I thought he was quite good initially, at least as a backup for Irfan and Sreesanth, but somehow, somewhere, things have gone wrong. We've seen worse bowlers picked for India before and after him, and while he's not perfect, he's not an abomination at all. It's not just his bowling; even his fielding has become quite bad. When you see Munaf Patel picked ahead of RP in nearly every match, you get a hint of how little he has performed. RP Singh is just that kind of bowler who needs to be coached, or rather, yanked into place.

 

[Precambrian]

I thought he was quite good initially, at least as a backup for Irfan and Sreesanth, but somehow, somewhere, things have gone wrong. We've seen worse bowlers picked for India before and after him, and while he's not perfect, he's not an abomination at all. It's not just his bowling; even his fielding has become quite bad. When you see Munaf Patel picked ahead of RP in nearly every match, you get a hint of how little he has performed. RP Singh is just that kind of bowler who needs to be coached, or rather, yanked into place.

His bad form points out to the fact that he's travelled with the main team for too long. Become a bit complaecent and has not trained enough, (as evident from the ODIs he played against Eng, completely out of touch). Presumably he has Dhoni's full support. So he might have taken things a bit easy and timely is given a poke by the selectors.

It has happened to many players before, Sehwag and Uthappa are two good examples.

RP has talent and that's a no-brainer. As with many Indians the talent needs to be regularly reminded of and worked out.

 

[quick4mindia]

Not to deny the fact that RP's performance in the ODIS he played against England was shocking. That too from a player who was so good against them last year.

I have not seen him performing so badly in the past.......though it is not uncommon for a bowler in india to go for runs ....this happens to everyone every now and then....The thing going against RP is that he looked completely out of sorts. Never looked like picking up.

If the rumors are to be believed that Dhoni wanted to continue with RP because his performance should not be judged on 2 ODI .....as he may be rusty after a long break.

Or may be he believes RP to be a good prospect as a test bowler than Pathan and wanted to give him good practice.

On this matter (as to how much a captain should be allowed to have a say in selection) Ajay Jadeja remarked if it is a matter of choosing the last man for your squad then it should be left to the captain. I don't know where he was coming from. But he advocated for captains to have some influence in selection if not all.

 

[Jono]

Dhoni's more important to Indian cricket than any rotating selection committee members. He knows he has the power, he knows he's the million dollar man of Indian cricket atm, in terms of popularity, marketing and importantly as well as results on the board as captain... so I'm sure he can and will get his way when the push comes to shove.

Prefer that to ****ty selectors.

 

[Richard]

And I'll say it again - on balance I think I'd prefer he get his way than some home-state-minded selector.

 

[Jono]

Agreed.

I hardly feel Dhoni's supporting (if true) RP over Irfan for some grudge or some friendship reason. He's seen Irfan win him a 20/20 WC as captain, I doubt he doesn't like the guy. Must have his own reasoning, and fair play to him, he is the captain and has the results to back him up.

 

[Arjun]

We're past those days of regional selections. Players from the much-ignored Central and East zones have had to work their way to national selection. The selectors know they have a duty to fulfil as selectors of the national team, so they know what's best. We don't have any more howlers like Khurasiya (for long MP's mainstay) and Prashant Vaidya (replacement for Venkatesh Prasad, picked from Bengal) playing for India now.

The selectors are there for a purpose, and the captain shouldn't undermine their ability by proposing another selection. He has to get the most of what he's got on the field.

 

[Jono]

No he shouldn't. When he's on the field, he's the one responsible for the wins and losses. Look at the criticism captains get when their team loses (refer to Dravid, Ponting, Flintoff)... you'd think it'd be best for them to have the players they want on their team.

 

[Arjun]

No he shouldn't. When he's on the field, he's the one responsible for the wins and losses. Look at the criticism captains get when their team loses (refer to Dravid, Ponting, Flintoff)... you'd think it'd be best for them to have the players they want on their team.

Then why have national selectors at all? Let the coach and captain decide the whole team.

What we don't want is the national team becoming a bunch of the captain's best men. Sometimes, the captain doesn't really know what's good for the team. That happened when Ganguly vehemently opposed the selectors regarding Rahul Dravid in one-dayers and Parthiv Patel in Tests. Some players, who many believe were good enough for that India cap, just didn't last long enough because they were not in Ganguly's good books. We saw Dinesh Mongia get one ODI too many, and it took loads of matches for him to score a half-century- but he was one of the captain's men. Dravid, on the other hand, had all the players from India in the same book. Even on this issue, RP Singh isn't doing much, and the Indian team is getting nothing out of his performance- and may stand to lose a lot if he stayed. Captains are never perfect, and shouldn't oppose the selectors to the level of overturning their selections.

The selectors are not perfect, and we all agree. But they are not fools either, and deserve some credit. We've seen them get next to no credit when they get things right.