MS Dhoni and the Indian Cricket Evolution

Indian Cricket teams in the past have had great captains like M A K Pataudi (more on Pataudi) and more recently the “Maverick” Sourav Ganguly who led through force of personality and some others who’ve led by example like Kapil Dev and Mohammed Azharuddin, the latter also possessed a cool head. Leadership skills, a cool head and individual ability have rarely been captured through a single player donning the Indian cap consistently. It’s a rarity to see such cricket captains in India although the Aussie’s are accustomed to it. It’s that combination which we are seeing through MS Dhoni, he’s unshackled his players, outthought oppositions, kept up his performance and rarely lost his head!

The ongoing India-Australia tie is testament to Dhoni’s leadership and the evolution of Indian cricketers. Yes, we do carry with us the legacy of poor fielding but such things as counter attacks, disciplined bowling and method over madness are unusual characteristics for us as well. But that’s clearly in the past, how’s this for a counter attack - 7 wickets down, Bhajji and Praveen maul the Aussies for some 40 runs in the last 4 overs and thus turning a defeat into a near victory. In the very next game India smashes 354 their highest ever ODI total against Aussies but it’s what happens next that indicates a genuine evolution.

Prior to a discussion on the team’s evolution, it’s time to rewind back over ten years to reminisce our flawed instincts, an India-Aus tie where India’s 300+ was getting chased hand over fist by a rampaging Gilchrist and Hayden (Sachin’s 5 wkt haul saved the day). Aussies lost despite scoring over 7 in the first 15, a splendid start and one that did highlight India’s bowling indiscipline on batting pitches. Jumping the reel to the current day there was no such hiccup by the bowlers in Nagpur as they tied the Aussies up from the word go, a master class of pitching the ball in the right areas and dominated as they’ve never done before.

There’s a certain maturity about this Indian team which translates into better consistency than other teams in the past. The leadership has a huge part to play I'd reckon but there are people who disagree. They feel maybe Dhoni was lucky to get today’s batting and bowling effort. Maybe he’s lucky to be the most successful Indian Test captain at this stage. Maybe the “lucky” captains of the past weren’t exactly lucky or maybe just maybe… they weren’t Mahendra Singh Dhoni!