England vs India 2014: Syed Kirmani has words of wisdom for MS Dhoni

MS Dhoni makes a loud appeal for caught behind in the 1st Test

Syed Kirmani, former Indian wicket-keeper, has closely observed MS Dhoni right from the time he made his international debut in 2004 and feels that the 33-year old is past his best behind the stumps.

Kirmani says Dhoni is past his best

"As the years pass, the performance of an individual peaks," Kirmani said. "I suppose this is what Dhoni is going through right now with his wicketkeeping, he isn't quite as outstanding anymore."

Kirmani, who is India’s most capped wicketkeeper having played 88 Test matches over 10 years, pinpointed Dhoni’s ball gathering technique to the seamers to be the main reason for conceding so many byes in the series until now.

"You don't collect anything over the shoulder or over the waist in this fashion (demonstrates method Dhoni employs with fingers pointing towards the ball as he gathers it)," Kirmani said. "That is not the right technique. Either you go this way (demonstrates with palms facing sideways to the ball on both sides of the body) or you go this way (demonstrates with fingers pointing in an upward direction). He is collecting the ball with the wrong technique, but he is doing that very effectively."

Break for Dhoni could help

While the 64-year-old feels that Dhoni is not the wicketkeeper of 2-3 years back, he said that a little break from cricket could do the trick for the Indian captain.

"Form will come automatically, it is only a matter of rest for these players of the current era. With the hectic schedule, there is no time for rest."

Kirmani was also critical of Dhoni standing in front of the stumps rather than behind while collecting throws from his fielders. He said: "You have to be behind the stumps to collect a throw from any direction of the field. You have to judge the flight and you have to be crouching right on top of the bails to evaluate the flight of the throw. When you are crouching you will be able to judge where it's going to land or whether it's going to come into your gloves or hit the stumps. There have been many times when Dhoni has missed chances because he has been in front of the stumps collecting the throws and trying to flick the ball behind him. That's not the right technique."

Good move to stand behind to Jadeja

Kirmani, however, lauded Dhoni for his move of standing a few steps back to the left-arm spin of Ravindra Jadeja and said that it might have been done with a view of taking the English batsmen out of their comfort zone.

"If you are in desperate need to dislodge a partnership, the captain and the fielders start to think of how to get it done," he said. "You try all sorts of different ideas to disrupt the concentration of a batsman. When he stood up for Bhuvneshwar, he restricted the batsman from stepping out. In Jadeja's case, he just took a chance, thinking that the batsman might step out, loft the ball and get out. This was a strategy that he planned."

The former Karnataka keeper ended on a positive note by encouraging Dhoni to make use of the technology available to see where he has been going wrong and expressed confidence in the Indian captain bouncing back, going into the 3rd Test, in Southampton.

"Go the way you have been going, you will improve automatically. Look at the video footage of where you have made mistakes to know where you stand and where you need to improve. You have the benefit of technology, coaches, support staff, so make full use of that," he concluded.