Has MS Dhoni irrevocably damaged India's transformation period by backing the wrong players?

MS Dhoni

A very famous theory by Charles Darwin in ‘The Survival of the Fittest’ tries to explain the evolution of life on earth. It states that the species, which are genetically more capable to pass on their genes to the new generation, thereby enhancing their quality, survive and flourish, while those who are incapable to do slowly tend towards extinction.

Indian cricket and evolution

Come cricket and one can’t help but notice the analogy. Cricket, or any sport for that matter is a game where ideally the fittest should survive (the ones who perform better), and those who are incapable of doing so should wither away, at times gradually, otherwise like a flash.

If you put Darwin’s theory in perspective, Cricket is the Earth, MS Dhoni is nature, and the Indian players vying for a spot in the team are battling for ‘survival’. The ideal trait of nature should be non-interfering. It should let the process happen the way it should be. Soon enough, there will be casualties, and you will have your last men standing. Men who have stood the test of time and cleared every hurdle along the way.

It goes without saying that the Lion will be one of the species to survive. It should too, for it has proven it’s worth as a majestic animal. But what if nature already has made up his mind after seeing a goat that it is going to be the king of all animals, and the lion is nothing but a grown out of proportion beast? Would things have been the way they are today? Should nature ever interfere in the automatic processes?

Funny as it may sound, welcome to the Great Indian Cricket Zoo, where goats are considered to be lions without proper reasoning. And this finally brings us to the topic: Has Dhoni irrevocably damaged India's transformation period by backing the wrong players (the goat instead of the lion)?

Giving a long rope to a player isn’t always a bad thing

Enough with analogies then, let’s get down to brass tacks. There is no denying the fact that a long rope should be provided. A player of Tendulkar’s calibre scored his 1st ODI hundred in his 76th match. But the next, and more important question is, should the rope be equal for all players? If no, what length of rope should be awarded to each player? One might argue the length of the rope should be equal to the talent a player possesses. And who is judging this talent? Who is deciding the length of the rope? If it is MS Dhoni, is he doling out the right lengths? Is his judgement based solely on cricketing reasons? If it is, how right has it turned out to be?

There is a very widely known example that can be quoted here. We all must’ve once in our life come across the statement that ‘Vinod Kambli is more talented than Tendulkar’. What if, after their epic partnership for their school, Kambli would have got the nod ahead of Tendulkar on the basis of having more talent? What if a 16-year-old Kambli had debuted for India and Tendulkar would have been cooling his heels in the sidelines? And Kambli on the basis of talent kept Tendulkar out for another 5 or so years? History books would never have been rewritten, in all likelihood, cricket would not have taken off the way it did and neither would I be writing this nor would you be reading it.

Some other legendary, fairly recent examples of backing the right players are from the South African team. Graeme Smith was made captain in his 9th Test match overlooking a host of players with better CVs. AB de Villiers was picked up in 2004 over his school mate Faf Du Plessis who then had a better reputation and record. What dizzying heights these two have taken their team to, especially in Test matches, is now a part of South African folklore.

The examples can go on forever, be it Wasim Akram, Ricky Ponting, Brian Lara, Sanath Jayasuriya, et al.

These reiterate two simple facts - a long rope is necessary, but it is of use only when it is provided to someone who can live up to the expectations, the hype. In terms of finance, the return (benefit) on time and matches invested should be above the required rate of return.

MS Dhoni’s mistakes

Is Dhoni’s India investing on the correct crop of players?

Have you heard of Ishank Jaggi? It is quite likely you may have not. Do spare some time to view his profile here. Jaggi has an average of over 52 in List A games, and scores above 50 once in less than 3 matches he plays, with a strike rate of over 80. I’m nowhere saying he should make his way to the Indian team, but for him never to play a game for India A is downright ridiculous and absurd!

Players with not-so-good numbers are playing for India A. People who have seen Jaggi bat can swear on his technical correctness. Why is he overlooked? Talent, you say? Does hard work and statistics account for nothing? Will Ishank also make it to the top 10 Indian cricketers who could not realize their full potential list 15 years later or there will be a twist in the tale?

Let us look at the current Indian team, Test and ODIs, the one that has a strong backing by MSD. Murali Vijay had a decent start to the England Test series, but his career has been fairly modest with an average of around 40. Decent, but not enough, considering he has to fill in the shoes of India’s previous opener Virender Sehwag.

Rohit Sharma has failed time and again despite MS Dhoni putting a lot of faith in him

Shikhar Dhawan is hell bent on making the record of the fastest average drop in the history of cricket. Still he’s being persisted with. Add to it the fact that he exactly isn’t a youngster either. Virat Kohli, Cheteshwar Pujara and Ajinkya Rahane are the best bet in the team for me, and they deserve their spot. The diamonds will be spotted in the heap of coal soon, I can wager my life savings on this.

About MS Dhoni backing himself in the Test team is a different story altogether, and let’s not get into that now.

Need specialists in Test cricket

Ravindra Jadeja and Ravichandran Ashwin are singled out to be the leading spinners of the country. What then, about Pragyan Ojha? What wrong has he done is beyond my brain’s limited capacity. A man of the match performance in the last match he played, and he is still dropped. If the argument is towards the all-rounder direction, I find it to be absolutely invalid. The prime characteristic Test Cricket needs is not versatility, but speciality. LOIs may have different requirements, but Test Cricket surely needs specialists.

It is too early to say anything about Stuart Binny, Ishant Sharma is finding his rhythm finally, and Bhuvaneshwar Kumar is here to stay. Varun Aaron performed reasonably well, Mohammed Shami has finally hit a rough patch, and was promptly dropped (unlike others who had the long rope).

Rohit Sharma not paying back

Coming to LOIs, Rohit Sharma must be the most perennial underachiever of all-time. The word Rohit Sharma should be entered into the Oxford dictionary, meaning ‘talented-but-underperforming’. If other players are given a rope equal to the height of a kiwi, he is given one as high as the giraffe! How long before he actually starts performing? Those you say he is now, let me remind you his strike rate is the same as England’s ‘fastest’ ODI player, Alastair Cook.

These are the cricketers who are identified as the ones to shine for India in the future, by Dhoni and the selectors. With their current performances, one cannot help but wonder, is the next Indian superstar sitting on the sidelines, unnoticed? Are these really the ones who will bring the glory days back to India? Or the likes of Sanju Sampson, Kedar Jadhav, Baba Aparajith among others can, but will never be able to do so, courtesy the rope provided by MSD to the current crop of players?

But is this irrevocable? I’d rather think it’s not. The old adage - it’s never too late - always stands good for me. But the process has to start soon enough. Once the roots start growing deep, the tree can never be uprooted. Good roots will always yield a better tree. The time right now is to sow the seeds, there is no doubting it. But is Dhoni sowing the right seeds? Or he’s being partial to some? The future really does lie in his hands. As they say, with great power comes great responsibility. But as cricket fans, we always look at the skies with unconditional hope. Hope that the future of Indian cricket is secure, safe and in the right direction.