press trust of india
Indore, Oct 13: Facing the toughest phase of his cricketing life, an under fire Mahendra Singh Dhoni will seek to revive his career and change the fortunes of a dispirited Indian team when the hosts take on South Africa in the second ODI here Wednesday.
With critics gunning for his head, Dhoni, in particular, finds himself in a very challenging situation. The year 2015 has not been a particularly happy one for him after the semifinal loss in the World Cup. His own form has been patchy and ‘Dhoni the batsman’ evidently does not strike fear in the hearts of bowlers anymore. It seems Dhoni, the ultimate finisher, has lost his touch somewhere as was evident in the first ODI at Kanpur.
With the World T20 not too far away, time seems to be running out for Dhoni, the man once considered indispensable in the limited overs formats.
Come Wednesday, the spotlight solely would be on Dhoni and his leadership skills and the remaining four matches of the ODI series will definitely be a test of character for the Indian captain.
As usual, the Indian batting line-up is a formidable one with opener Rohit Sharma in rollicking form. However, his opening partner Shikhar Dhawan’s form is a cause for concern. He would be looking for a bagful of runs after failing in the T20s and then the first ODI.
Returning to the side, Ajinkya Rahane, however, proved his worth with a vital innings of 60 in Kanpur and would be looking to carry forward his good form. Dhoni’s heir apparent Virat Kohli would be also be hoping for runs and going by his lofty standards, he would like to take on the challenge against tough opponents like the Proteas to stamp his class once again.
Serious questions marks are also on Suresh Raina and the abilities of Stuart Binny as an all-rounder. But the thing which will worry Dhoni, the captain, most is the performance of his bowlers and the absence of his ‘go to man’ Ravichandran Ashwin, who has been effectively ruled out of the series with a side strain suffered during the Kanpur match.
The pace duo of Bhuvneshwar Kumar and comeback man Umesh Yadav looked ordinary in front of AB de Villiers and company while Binny as usual has failed to prove his worth with the ball as well.
The only saving grace for Dhoni and India were the spin duo of Ashwin and leggie Amit Mishra, but with the former now out of at least the next two ODIs, this department has also taken a severe beating. One will just hope that Harbhajan Singh manages to fill up the vacancy created by Ashwin’s injury.
South Africa, on the other hand, are a confident lot and are eyeing their first-ever ODI series win on Indian soil.
