A year of reckoning awaits MS Dhoni and Team India

MS Dhoni attends a press conference after the Indian team landed in New Zealand

Captain Extraordinaire Mahendra Singh Dhoni has an onerous task at hand as Team India embarks on its first overseas tour of 2014 – a year which will see our cricketers prove their mettle in testing conditions, on foreign soil.

Dhoni can rightfully lay claim to the title of one of the country’s most successful skippers, but it is in the five-day format that his credentials have been questioned ever since his troops were rendered hors de combat in tours to England and Australia.

At the fag-end of 2013, a new look team showed that it had the stomach for a fight in a shortlived bout against the Proteas, but the captain will know that any real chance at redemption lies in the battles ahead.

That the youngsters in the team don’t carry too many scars from defeats in the past will work to India’s advantage, though. Following the narrow 1-0 defeat in South Africa, MSD said that his side has a “recipe for success, with all the necessary ingredients”.

Judging by how the batsmen fronted up to a potent attack led by the champion bowler Dale Steyn, the ‘recipe’ seems to be about playing the waiting game and expressing oneself only when the adversary is tiring; an approach that may not make for entertaining Test match cricket, but when persisted with over five days – or better still, over the entire duration of the series – could yield desired results.

Former Australian captain, Ian Chappell had once remarked that a “team takes the personality of its captain”, and Dhoni’s passive, ‘wait-till-the-other side-blinks’ tactics in the longer version may be at odds with a proactive style of play that a Michael Clarke demonstrates, but his hand is forced by the limited options in the squad in terms of bowling stocks.

Indian bowlers haven’t been penetrative when the red cherry isn’t swinging (or turning big); hence cutting down on run-scoring by employing defensive field placings has been the paramount strategy in contests abroad.

The skipper’s assertion that both the ODI and Test teams now wear a settled look, gives one the impression that the boys who undertook the African sojourn will be persisted with for some time. And so it should be, given that even the Rohits and the Dhawans – who did not acquit themselves too well in face of sustained good bowling – have a wealth of experience to fall back on when it comes to playing at the highest level, albeit in the shorter formats.

The bowlers are also no greenhorns, and here is where credit must be given, where due, to the selectors for ensuring that Dhoni today has a bunch of eager and capable team-mates who have much to prove on their own.

Down under, the resurgent Aussies are already talking up their chances as they prepare to resume rivalries away from home, safe in the knowledge that their performances from now on will be measured against those of their illustrious predecessors.

Dhoni, on the other hand, has no real legacy to look upto as a captain – at least when it comes to ‘away’ records – but this is his chance to create one. The fans will certainly hope that the Indian captain is looking forward to his shot at glory.