3 things India need to improve on for tour of England

#3 Captaincy

Test cricket differs from limited over cricket in this respect. A good captain is often a big reason behind a great bowling performance. Attacking captains have generally been more successful than the defensive ones.

A captain has several responsibilities like setting up the field, bowling changes, etc. A good Test captain should always be a good thinker. Dhoni, despite being a great player, has been found wanting in Tests, especially outside Asia. His tactic of playing the waiting game has been severely criticized by several experts.

As Ian Chappell, a former Australian captain, once wrote: “Dhoni is a brilliant captain in the shorter versions of the game, and a master at timing his run to the finishing line as a middle-order batsman. However, as a Test captain he's too reactive and has a tendency to let the game meander along, like an absent-minded professor strolling in the park. His conservatism allows the better players among opposition batsmen too much freedom and too many easy runs. Consequently, big partnerships, like the match-saving one by Brendon McCullum and BJ Watling, build too often.”

Even though the Indian bowlers often get the stick for their poor performances, we often tend to forget that they are asked to bowl negatively. This was evident in Durban when Dhoni did not look to attack South Africa even when they were just 10 runs ahead with 4 wickets in hand. Instead he allowed the game to drift, and drift, and further drift when sudden counter attack took the bowling to the cleaners.

And this is only one of the several instances that have acted as India’s knell overseas in recent times. For a better performance from the bowlers, Dhoni must be more active and inspiring on the field by setting attacking fields and catching the opposition by their throat.