Dhoni has been credited with a lot of credit for making a World Beating Team out of Team India. We indeed are No. 1 Test Team. But this mainly has been due to 'Golden Oldies' like Dravid, Laxman, Sachin and Sehwag. My reservations about the 'Youngistan' brigade has been all too well documented.
But what happened yesterday against West Indies beats all logic and all definitions of common sense. Let us examine this. First of all Dhoni did the Ganguly by inviting Australians to bat first after winning the toss in the first Super-8 match. The two 'W' s of New Generation Australia pummeled Indian bowlers on a good wicket. Watson and Warner were simply unstoppable and India lost half the battle here.
Ravindra Jadeja carrying the scars of IPL suspension has never looked confident. He was hammered in his first over and still got another over and ended up conceding almost 90% of Australia's margin of victory in his two overs. And then we know what happened.
Now after this debacle, India had the best chances of beating West Indies by batting first and putting up a decent score on board. We know how the Windies middle order is vulnerable against spin while chasing targets. Sri Lanka had proved it.
Common sense would have prompted Dhoni to go in for a change in team and replace Jadeja with anyone else in team. Common sense would have meant India would have batted first after winning the toss. Common sense means playing to your strength and using your best talent to the best effect. And common sense demands you be flexible.
But just like the disaster of 2009 T-20 World Cup, Dhoni has remained adamant. He refuses to change. He has always gone by instincts rather than common wisdom. Giving the last over to Jogindar Sharma in 2007 T-20 World Cup Final was a gamble. Jogindar gave a full-toss for a six and then bowled a wide ball. India still won because the batsman was an unbelievably stupid Misba Ul Haq. Only a Pakistani can play the ball in the air when you need to score one to tie and two to win.
You don't get to see a Stupid Aussie. You can call them arrogant *$@#^~!* and any other damn thing, but not stupid. Well, an Aussie can get carried away with a mike in his hands, but not when he has a bat or a ball. That never happens and India suffered.
Against Windies again, Dhoni won the toss and invited Chris Gail to run riot! Riot he ran and India were once again found 'short' of technique against short pitched stuff. Similar bowling was used by South Africans too. But when you don't have the mounting asking rate hanging like a sword over your head, Suresh Raina and any Indian can bat and swat the short or long balls.
Dhoni did the unthinkable by opting to bowl on a wicket that would have become harder to bat on as it proved. Then he actually made Jadeja bowl and he went for 16 in his first over. As if that wasn't enough Jadeja got another over. Jadeja's figures for the 2 Super-8 matches go like this: 4-0-69-1. In a single match, this would have been a world record.
Knowing Vijay's lack of technique and the good form shown by Rohit, it would have been better to promote Rohit. But Dhoni believes in doing things his own way. As I write this, India have one and a half feet out of this episode of the Caribbean Carnival. A miracle against the in form Sri Lanka and a 100 runs drubbing for the West Indies against Aussies can take India to the next stage. But then, Team India don't deserve to make it to the next level.
So why did Dhoni not conform to time tested practice? Every Indian including my Mom would have elected to bat first and play Vinay Kumar in place of Jadeja. But Dhoni did things his way and now blames it on India's 20 year old weakness against 'short pitched' bowling. Why doesn't this become a problem when India bat first or when they chase smaller totals?
Dhoni is not a common man any more. He always thinks out of the box and sometimes even suitcase. That is why he is left with his mobile phone boxes while all his mobile phones are stolen. So what Dhoni practices is out of the common. So can we call this 'Uncommon Sense'? This is an exact opposite of Voltaire, 'Uncommon sense is not so Uncommon'; especially among Indian Cricket Captains !
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