Cricket – all of us are ‘experts’…

As expected, India’s humiliating defeat against a brilliant English team has once again raised the demand for Dhoni to be removed from captaincy. The bunch of former cricketers has come out all guns firing at Captain Cool.  However, I haven’t come across a realistic analysis of what happened in this series.

When India went into the series, Dhoni had these resources at his disposal.

India’s top batsmen: Sachin, Sehwag, Yuvraj, Gambhir, Kohli.

Top bowlers: Zaheer, Harbhajan, Ashwin, Ojha.

How many among these have made ‘useful’ contribution to India’s cause during this series? The numbers speak for themselves. It was collective failure in all departments of the game for India. Equally important is the fact that one didn’t see the ‘seniors’ like Sachin, Sehwag, Yuvraj assisting the captain or the younger players on the field.  Experience is of no value unless it is used to guide the team along when the going gets tough.  

It was really painful to watch the captain cool struggling hard to maintain his composure and come up with some kind of no-brainer in presentation ceremony. Unlike others, the captain does not have the luxury of naming anyone.

I agree it is time to try new captain for shorter versions of the game. However, it will be disastrous to try a ne captain in test cricket at this juncture. Better groom someone in T20s and ODIs before handing over the test team.

And, of course, it is time for the God to retire from the game. Not only because of the string of failures, but also because he do not have anything to prove or achieve in a cricket ground. All good things must come to an end…sooner or later….