MS Dhoni and the T20I Conundrum: Why isn't he very successful in T20s in the international arena?

MS Dhoni

For someone who is known to be a cool customer in the face of pressure-cooker situations, the Indian captain is, for lack of a better word, very stubborn. And I’m not talking about his biryani histrionics, but his age-old penchant for taking games right down to the final ball. The way he played the last over of the sole Twenty20 International against England, towards the end of a mixed tour, reeked of a little over-confidence in his own abilities. He may have had the right thoughts, but what confused me even more was his reluctance to rotate the strike even for the last over.

Move up the order

Of late, many have been clamouring for the Jharkhand native to bat higher up the order in the shortest format of the game. I tend to agree with this school of thought, in particular because I believe Dhoni bats at a position he is just not suited for. He is a power hitter, not a grafter. His task is to accelerate the scoring rate, not slow it down. When you have 20 overs to play for, you want your top three to score runs at a gallop so that the pressure doesn’t mount on those who follow. But it does increase with a flurry of wickets, so the latter half of the line-up is perpetually scrambling to make the required run-rate as gettable as possible, and, in the process, they tend to lose their heads in most cases.

This is where the calmness of Dhoni comes into play. The guy’s almost Zen-like at the crease. The way he plays gives you the impression that things are not as dire as they are made out to be. For this reason alone, he is the prized wicket for the opposition; all the more reason that India would want him to arrive early to the crease and stay till the end.

Yet he seems reluctant to make this change. Why?

In One Day International (ODI) cricket, he has found the role he is suited for. Transitioning from a pure slogger into a refined, mature yet powerful striker of the ball hasn’t been easy, but he has managed it well. But the difference is quite obvious: there are more overs to play in this form and much more time to get your eye in. If this is the logic that Dhoni is going by in Twenty20, then he’s not entirely incorrect. But getting into a comfort zone vis-à-vis the batting order is a true double-edged sword; while it does have a positive impact initially, it can prove to be detrimental over time, because you develop a certain style of play that is hard to re-work when you’re not doing well.

Fear of failure

Then there is the matter of having a mental block. I firmly believe this is the case with MSD’s reluctance to adjust his position. For all the skills he possesses in absorbing the pressures of crunch situations, the man still has an underlying fear that cripples even the strongest of us all.

It’s the fear of failure of not performing better in crucial periods of the game. Granted that he shoulders additional responsibility as the leader of a world-class side, but that is no excuse for Dhoni the batsman to go into a shell. In fact, Twenty20 is the best platform for him to come out of this self-imposed barrier on his mind. Here, he can play as freely as he did during his blitzkrieg innings of 183 against Sri Lanka years ago. Logic goes out of the window in the lightning-fast world of 20-over cricket, so there is no better chance for the skipper to regain lost ground than become the Mahi of old and rip bowling attacks to shreds.

The whole cricketing world has seen the monstrous hits he is capable of producing when he is at his ferocious best, and his ferocity comes only when his mind is not cluttered with thoughts of chasing down targets or even setting them. The only thing he needs to master right now is the ability to switch between his roles as both leader and batsman. Perhaps a break from captaincy will allow him to refresh himself and, in turn, contribute handsomely with the willow.

In the absence of Yuvraj Singh, it is up to Mahendra Singh Dhoni to be the Punishing Finisher, and, for the greater good, I hope he finds this touch soon.