Thursday, August 14, 2008

Big blow or big relief?

MS Dhoni says the absence of Sachin Tendulkar is a big blow for India leading up to the one-day series with Lanka. Before that, he said players of the calibre of Sourav Ganguly and Rahul Dravid don't have to prove themselves.
All that these statements tell me is that Dhoni is settling in nicely to the political side of his role as captain. It's all very well to say nice things about players when you know they are not going to be in your team.
Actions speak louder than words, however. It's quite well known that it was MSD's strong opposition that kept Ganguly and Dravid out of the one-day team Down Under. As for Sachin, Dhoni must have mixed feelings.
Tendulkar did hold the innings together in the finals of the tri-series in Australia, although the main credit for those victories should have gone to the bowlers. Anyway, his form and fitness have been poor since then - a duck in the only innings he played against South Africa, a groin injury that kept him out of half the IPL, a below-par scoring rate in the IPL, an average of just 15 in his six innings of the Test series in Lanka...
But more importantly, Sachin's absence saves Dhoni from having to split India's terrific opening combo of Gambhir and Sehwag. So methinks Dhoni would be counting his blessings while lamenting the "big blow".

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

what a pity that the Fab Four, and especially sachin, are now looking like going out on a whimper instead of going out with a bang. somebody needs to coach Indian cricketers on when and how to quit. only sunny quit at the right time. the others, whoever made it big, like kapil, for instance, had to be pushed out by the scruff of their neck. sad.

Viswanathan said...

Agree with you that Dhoni has become adept at giving 'lip service'.

Soulberry said...

He's right from his perspective Sumit. It is indeed a blow FOR his team that Sachin is not in it.

I think the selectors will allow the dust to settle from the Lanka series and begin winding up careers after the Oz series.

Good to see you back in great keeping form...we were getting tired of the DKs, Patels and MSDs!

straight point said...

welcome back sumit the cricket was missing its real keeper... :)

having seen seniors jumping to the tune of m&m nobody expects them to be successful...so its a god send opportunity for all of them...

he or for that matter every player should be quietly resolute to show what metal they are made of...and if they can pull it off...it will be nothing short of a coup...

they will make selectors job easier...

Anonymous said...

sp, it would be unfair for the youngsters to be on trial every time they go out to play, considering the very long rope the seniors got.
soulberry, can't match msd in his keeping, which has improved a great deal, although his captaincy has some way to go yet, as was evident in the ipl final.