IPL 2023: And the Three Playoff Slots Go To…?

With just four league matches to go the three Playoff slots in the IPL-2023 are still open for grabs, only Gujarat (GT) having already secured the top slot. Thanks to their abandoned match due to rain Chennai (CSK) and Lucknow (LSG) are in some advantage, with 15 points each after sharing a point each. We think this gives bit of an edge to the two teams, because even if they lose their last matches they could still go through depending on what Bengaluru (RCB) and Mumbai (MI) do. But the dangers are also equally palpable. With 14 points each, if RCB and MI win their last matches they will straightaway enter into the Playoffs leaving only one slot to others and in that scenario either LSG or CSK will get thrown out, based on the net run-rate (NRR). And if CSK gets eliminated that’d be shattering for the MS Dhoni fans who’ve been celebrating the former India captain with the speculation rife that this could be his last IPL—the scenes were really evocative in Chennai when CSK marched around the stadium with Dhoni in the lead and cricket legend Sunil Gavaskar lining up for captain cool’s autograph and that was after CSK lost the match against Kolkata (KKR). However, more positively for the Dhoni fans, if CSK beat Delhi (DC) in the afternoon match today they’ll secure their Playoff slot. If LSG happens to beat KKR in the evening match today they’ll too enter the last stage. Therefore, in that scenario only one slot will remain for the other top contenders, namely RCB and MI.

 

Mumbai takes on Hyderabad (SRH) in the penultimate league match tomorrow, and as we said a victory for them will take them straight into the Playoffs depending on the results today. Bengaluru takes on the top team Gujarat in the last league match tomorrow, and like Mumbai a victory would take them into the Playoffs, depending on the results today. So, as regards the Playoffs, these four matches are virtual eliminators and qualifiers combined. What more could be expected from a competitive tournament with majority of the teams still caught in the throes of going through or not till the last moments?

 

If Mumbai and Bengaluru lose and Kolkata wins, a four-way deadlock at 14 points each could emerge with only one team hoping to fill the last slot based on the best NRR. Therefore, the contenders, RCB, MI and KKR, must not only look to win but also to try increase the NRR as much to an extent as possible, and Bengaluru, playing the last league match should be in an advantageous situation as they’d know exactly the scenario. It’d be really unfortunate if Rajasthan (RR) gets kicked out which is more likely than not, because the franchise had been playing quite consistently with the stars like Jaiswal, captain Sanju Samson and Jos Buttler, not to forget spinner duo of Ashwin and Chahal; their hopes crashed due to a few inexplicable aberrations, like getting all out for 59 in the all-important match against RCB. And it’s been really the resurgence of Mumbai, led by Suryakumar Yadav, Ishan Kishan and Tim David, and Bengaluru, led by captain de Plessis, Kohli to some extent and Maxwell, that has helped the teams remain top contenders.

IPL 2023: The ‘Home’ Celebrations Get Hammered!

The ‘home’ perception and the celebrations thereof owe their origins to the naming of the competing franchises since 2008. Most of the franchises are named after major cities of the country like Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata, Chennai, Hyderabad, Bengaluru etc. and one or two after the source state like Rajasthan Royals. Obviously, it’s always been expected that the cricket lovers of those cities or states would ideally be the supporters of the ‘home’ team and show full loyalties as respective fans (However, it’s not clear as to whether locals of the concerned city only or the full state should become ravenous supporters or not, because in case of Maharashtra there was another franchise named Pune Warriors once, and so it was ambiguous as to who the state of Maharashtra fans should support). And that’s what’s been happening ever since, although the whole ‘celebration’ syndrome defies all logic: because, first, the players for each franchise are selected through the path-breaking auctions with players joining the teams as per the bids; second, so, there’s absolutely no guarantee that any local cricketers, if available, shall be included in the concerned franchises; third, even if one or two local cricketers happen to get included there’s no guarantee that they’d go on playing for their teams which is actually subject to the glorious rules of the game; then, four, the auctions are not limited to India alone, but open to all cricket playing nations with the exception of Pakistan for reasons known too well; and lastly, there’ve been numerous instances of ‘local boys’ not being bought back by the concerned franchises in subsequent auctions, again depending on the glorious rules of the game that include not just forms but current market values too and very often being even left ‘unsold’.

 

Rest assured, we’re not at all trying to question or raise objections to the ‘home’ patriotism, we only happen to get a little concerned about it, thanks to various what we think sustainable reasons. For one, out of the 43 IPL-2023 matches played till May 1, 2023, in as many as 24 matches the home teams have lost, that is more than 50%--definitely a whopping statistic. This figure includes the match lost by RR in Guwahati also, because in order to bring that north eastern city into the IPL ambit for the first time, the city was suddenly marked as ‘home’ for RR. We’re at a total loss to know for what earthy reasons as RR has always been basking in their proper home shine of Rajasthan and besides, the ruling parties in both states are not even the same. Anyway, as regards our statistical point we must admit that we’re blissfully unaware of what could’ve been the scenario in the previous IPL versions and also accept that we’re not empowered to do that kind of research.

 

As we mentioned we’re also piqued by what happened in that Delhi Capitals match in Delhi against Sunrisers Hyderabad when, fans angered by the ‘home’ team’s abysmally consistent failure to win matches and stay in active contention, erupted into a freestyle fisticuff with rival or general fans inside the stadium. Besides, before that what happened in Kolkata (the iconic Eden Gardens), the fans there too agonized by the ‘home’ franchise’s consistent failure to win matches and stay in active contention despite the incredible Rinku Singh boost they achieved. In that match between CSK and KKR on 23^rd April, 2023, one specially frustrated KKR fan erupted into the public arena declaring that this practice of ignoring the ‘Bangla’ cause at the ‘home’ turf is not at all desirable, but actually very deplorable. Now, it is not clear as to what ‘Bangla’ ingredients he found in that franchise where even the lone player having the surname of Chakravarthy, is neither a Bong nor from Bangla. No doubt, rational and wiser souls have condemned the ‘patriot’ robustly.

 

This brings us to our last point. For MS Dhoni, the inimitable former India captain, he’d be welcome in any place in India and cricket lovers would really love to see him in full flow. And for that matter, former most successful India captain Virat Kohli (although fans have been getting used to watching him fight for a lost cause, always over the years), the present India captain Rohit Sharma (who refused to take Sunil Gavaskar’s advice to take a break and prepare well for the Test Championship match early next month) and quite a few other national and international achievers would also be welcome anywhere in India and general fans would love to see them dishing out inspiring and exemplary cricket.

 

The IPL-2023 has really been an exciting spectacle so far in terms of giving the fans veritable treats of both low-scoring cum high-scoring thrillers, invariably going down to the last over. So, why bother about home or no-home? India is our home and we should make ourselves free to partake in the cricketing bonanza. One positive aspect of the ‘home’ syndrome though comes out loud and clear: the apparently ‘home-infected’ dejected about-to-cry fans suddenly burst into life whenever one of the roving stadium cameras focuses on them! Many more thrillers are yet to come and the climax thereafter! So, enjoy!

IPL-2022: As We Bid Goodbye To MI And CSK The Bairstow-Livingstone Blasts Save PBKS From Us!

Putting ‘goodbye’ in the headline could have more significance than perhaps you can possibly imagine; of course, the very few who ‘read’ these pages must have understood. Yes, we’re referring to the Goodbye post a few days back. However, that apparently painful post did not contain any kind of commitment or decisive action on the part of the writer which is significant in light of some famed international cricketers saying quits to the game through public announcements and then coming back again as if nothing was the matter. Therefore, that ‘goodbye’ meant nothing to the public, even if it could’ve hurt this writer a lot since he’s been rather harassed four times in the last four months for the purportedly suspicious visitors to the site who never read, but don’t care to go on a sabotaging rampage. Out of a morbid fear I've stopped posting my links on the social media too. What a pity! But still, why should I care who read and not read but try to damage! This site is very dear to me and it’s not at all surprising that cricket has changed the ‘goodbye’ to ‘welcome again’! The last league match between Mumbai Indians (MI) and Chennai Super Kings (CSK) last night acted like a gamechanger for me, if not for IPL-2022 or cricket.

 

The MI, already thrown out of the IPL play-offs, started nonetheless with a vengeance igniting fiery spells by Daniel Sams taking two scalps in the very first over of the match, then going on to take his third in the fifth over and joined in by an equally lethal Jasprit Bumrah, a tad too late for his team, who took one, thus reducing CSK to a shaky 17/4 from the scary start of 5/3.

 

Why this vengeance? Well, perhaps it has everything to do with the reinstated CSK captain MS Dhoni or MSD who, in fact, literally threw MI out of contention reliving his role of the Finisher on 22^nd April, at a time when the ‘home’ franchise was desperately looking for its first win after losing six on the trot. CSK could never recover from this nightmare last night, getting all out for a pitiful 97 which is CSK’s second lowest score in IPL history. Although MI captain Rohit Sharma failed once again his team managed to win the match by 5 wickets. Most significantly, this MI win now threw MSD’s CSK out of contention for the play-offs. And therefore, we bid goodbye for the five-time Champs MI and the defending Champs CSK.

 

Gujarat Titans (GT), the titanic newbie, became the first team to seal a play-off spot with 18 points followed by the second newbie Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) with 16 points. With MI and CSK out of contention and LSG almost in needing to win one out of the remaining two matches, there are still six teams still in contention for at least two of the four play-off spots, and every one of them needing to win all their remaining matches to form probable locked-in situations with 16 or 14 points each when the net run-rate comes in as the decider. Of course, Rajasthan Royals has a better chance at 14 points with two matches to go. Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) is the only team with 3 matches to go and at 10 points, losing all the last five matches on the trot after a resurgence. 

 

The Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) had 14 points with two matches left and tonight they have faced the Punjab Kings (PBKS), still in contention at 10 points with three matches left, hoping to get the precious two points to virtually secure its spot. However, put into bat the PBKS’s opener Jonny Bairstow blasted away with incredible 7 sixes and 4 fours in his innings of 66 runs off just 29 balls (scored his fifty in 21 balls). The other Englishman in the team, Liam Livingstone, followed him religiously, blasting 70 runs in 44 balls with 5 fours and 4 mammoth sixes. The English duo thus ensured their team score beyond 200, and all others fought hard to finally score 209/9, setting a target 210 in 20 overs which looked beyond RCB despite du Plessis, Kohli, Glen Maxwell and Karthik. For RCB, fast-bowler Hazelwood suffered the most conceding 64 runs in his allotted 4 overs. Finally, PBKS won the match by 54 runs and joined the Delhi Capitals (DC) at 12 points each and two matches remaining for each. RCB has one last match and a tough one too against the No.1 GT on 19^th May to get to 16 points that could possibly give them a spot in the top four.

IPL-2022: Ravindra Jadeja Gives It Back To MSD As Mumbai Registers Their First Win!

Right from the beginning of the IPL-2022 Ravindra Jadeja who was handed over the captaincy by Mahendra Singh Dhoni (MSD) had been going through an extremely lean patch. Being one of the greatest all-rounders of the game he had been consistently failing with the ball, with the bat and failing even in his specialty in fielding, dropping catches that is rare in his international career. Under his leadership CSK lost the first five games on the trot, then won the next two and again lost the 8^th; and Jadeja hardly contributed anything worthwhile in those games. So, it has been on the cards that something is going to happen as a captain cannot possibly be dropped. Finally, on Saturday, the 30^th of April 2022 Jadeja called it a day as captain and requested his leader-mentor MSD to take over again. And Dhoni obliged, and he will be leading CSK again in a crucial game against the tough SRH tonight. However, it’s not clear if Ravindra Jadeja was forced by the team management to step down or he found the burden of leadership too heavy to perform well which he in fact said in his official statement.

 

Now, the question arises as to why MSD should accept the captaincy again after resigning from the position prior to the start of the tournament. A young leadership was very much needed for the ageing franchise. Is it only his experience that counts? If so, how long would experience go on taking precedence over performance? Dhoni has performed hardly better than Jadeja except being the most dependable wicketkeeper and except for that match against MI when he brought back the vintage MSD as a Finisher that we wrote about recently. Besides, while in Team India as the wicketkeeper he had been captain Virat Kohli’s mentor for several years, and so, why has he not done so for Jadeja too. Or why the team management has not gone for a younger alternative instead of sticking on to experience. Perhaps it has more to do with ‘commercial’ reasons as CSK and MSD had been inseparable since the beginning of the tournament and if that is so, we have nothing to say since IPL has everything to do with commerce, much more than cricket. Anyway, it’d be interesting how Dhoni lead the team in Pune in the second game this evening. One more loss would virtually rule them out of the tournament.

 

Meanwhile, the beleaguered Mumbai franchise won their first game against RR, again thanks to the only successful batting duo of Suryakumar Yadav and Tilak Varma as captain Rohit Sharma failed again. Jasprit Bumrah went wicketless again, but the rookie off-spinner Hrithik Shokeen along with Meredith restricted Rajasthan to a manageable 158/6. However, this victory is more of a face-saving affair than staying on as a tough contender in the hunt for a berth in the play-offs.

 

In the first of the double-header between RCB and the top performing GT last afternoon, Virat Kohli did pick up his first half-century of the tournament, but lost the match giving GT 16 points now with five games still left for them. Having played ten games so far gaining only ten points, for RCB the journey to the play-offs is going to be tough while Hyderabad has played only 8  and has 6 left to add to their ten points. Delhi who are playing against the formidable LSG in the first game today still has the chances to make a comeback with six games left to lift their present 8 points. Kolkata is struggling miserably at 6 points out of 9 games thanks to their celebrated non-performers.

PS: LSG gets back to the second position defeating DC in a tough match by 6 runs, opting to bat first). CSK beats SRH by 13 runs under MSD put into bat. Tough luck for Jadeja because  only in this match the opening duo of Ruturaj Gaikwad (missing a glorious ton at 99 out) and Devon Conway (85 not out) happened to fire all cylinders helping the team put up a huge target of 203 for SRH to win.

IPL-2022: Dhoni Finishes Off Mumbai As The Two Bottom Ranked Champions Produce A Thriller!

It was a rare moment. It was vintage Mahendra Singh Dhoni, the firebrand yet cool former India captain, in his long-forgotten role as the Finisher. The match between the bottom ranked Champions, the defending Champions Chennai Super Kings (CSK) and the five-time Champions Mumbai Indians (MI), played at the DY Patil Stadium in Navi Mumbai on 21^st April went down the wire with CSK needing a four in the last ball to win. And MSD was at the crease. In that momentous last over bowled by Jaydev Unadkat and CSK needing 17 runs to win, the first ball gets the blast-away Dwaine Pretorius (22 off 14) out LBW; Dwaine Bravo comes in and takes a single to let Dhoni take over; 16 runs to get now in 4 balls; Dhoni hits the third ball to a towering six; next ball a four; the fifth ball Dhoni hits the ball and scampers desperately back for the second run to be able to face the last ball, a feat that he missed in the historic semi-final against New Zealand in the ICC World Cup-2019; now a 4 needed in the last ball in an epic situation; and Dhoni (28 not out in 13 balls) gets it in style leading CSK to win by 3 wickets. The Finisher stages a rare comeback to the ecstasy of his fans and the fans of CSK. MI captain Rohit Sharma and the last-over bowler Unadkat look devastated as their team crashes to its 7^th consecutive defeat, almost eliminating them from IPL-2022.

 

Both the bottom-ranked teams were justifiably desperate to win, MI needing their first win and CSK wanting its second in 7 games each, and as a result the match had been intensely fought all throughout with crisis situations thrown in for both. CSK wins the toss and as usual puts MI into bat. CSK rookie pacer Mukesh Chaudhary in a fierce burst as the first new-ball bowler mops up the top three MI wickets: Rohit Sharma for a duck and Ishan Kishan for 1 in the very first over of the innings, and then capturing Dewald Brevis for 4 in his second over, finishing the Player of the Match figure of 3-19.

 

Mumbai could never really recover from those early blows. It was thanks mainly to Tilak Varma (51 not out in 43) and the ever-needed Suryakumar Yadav (32 in 21) that MI crawled to a somewhat respectable total of 155/7. Pollard failed again with the bat and was never bowled a single over in the match. Among the other bowlers Mithchell Santner was good, but others including prominently captain Jadeja failed to impress.

 

Desperation acted as some kind of stimulator for Mumbai as they acted like tigers hungry for prey on the field and put CSK in dire straits. Daniel Sams in a burst like Mukesh earlier getting four scalps, the two by Unadkat and one severe blow by Meredith separating CSK captain Ravinda Jadeja from Dhoni which could’ve been an ominous partnership reduced CSK to 106 for 6 wickets. With 50 runs needed in four overs Mumbai seemed to have the match in their pocket and again with 35 needed in the last two overs. However, Pretorius became the first predator for MI and the rest was history as MS Dhoni re-established his role as the Finisher. And unfortunately again, main strike bowler Jasprit Bumrah failed to get wickets still.

 

MI and CSK continue to give company to each other at the bottom positions—CSK with 4 points now in the 9^th position and MI with no win in the 10^th spot. In the meantime, RCB has been doing very well amassing 5 wins out of 7 to rise to the second position with 10 points while GT retains the top spot with 10 points due to their better run-rate. RR also rises to the third position with 8 points in 6 games while LSG slides to the fourth, also with 8 points, but in 7 games. Resurgent SRH rises to the 5^th position with 8 points in 6 games. DC had thrashed Punjab to make amends to their poor stats and is now occupying the 6^thposition. KKR has been fighting very bravely, but losing matches recently and sliding to the 7^th position with 6 points in 7 games. PBKS is in the 8^th position, but also with 6 points in 7 games.

 

With 7 games each left for 7 teams and 8 for the 3 teams a see-saw battle for the top four spots is still very much on the anvil. Unfortunately, it seems almost over for MI unless they win all their remaining 7 games only to remain in contention. It’d be interesting too to watch what CSK does next with that huge morale-booster delivered by MS Dhoni.

IPL-2022 Starts From 26th March: New Format, New Teams And New Captains!

The TATA Indian Premiere League (IPL)-2022 starts in the state of Maharashtra from tomorrow, the 26^th of March, across three stadiums in Mumbai and one in Pune. This 15^th edition of the IPL is set to welcome the fans cum cricket revelers back to the stadiums after the Pandemic cricket-new-normal in 2020 and 2021 editions—the former delayed and had to be held in UAE while the latter started in India, but had to be stopped halfway and later shifted to UAE. As per COVID-19 norms at least 25% of the stadium capacity will be allowed and in light of relaxed restrictions all over India the crowd limit is all set to be increased later on. There will be a total of 74 matches during 26^th March-29^thMay out of which 70 league matches will be played in the stadiums mentioned above and the venues of the 4 play-off matches are yet to be decided. Ahmedabad was earlier earmarked for the final matches.

 

Only for the second time in the IPL history there are 10 teams or franchises in the IPL-2022 tournament and like in IPL-2011 the group-format is being introduced again to keep the total matches around 70. All the 10 teams are ranked as per their IPL Championship wins and other performance stats: from No.1 to No.10 and are divided into Group A and Group B; the ranks are reflected in the table in serial order across the groups; the teams in the same row across the groups will play each other twice and the remaining teams in one group will play with the remaining teams of the other group only once; and within a group the teams, as usual, will play each other twice. In all, as per earlier standards of the tournament each team will play 14 matches at the league stage.

 

The following table clears the scenario: the two new teams are Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) and Gujarat Titans (GT), naturally ranked 9 and 10 respectively; the Championship wins are marked in brackets against the earlier 8 teams.

	Group A		Group B
1	MI (5)	2	CSK (4)
3	KKR (2)	4	SRH (1)
5	RR (1)	6	RCB
7	DC	8	PBKS
9	LSG	10	GT

For example, the top team Mumbai Indians (MI) will play Chennai Super Kings (CSK) twice and the same follows down the order, in the last row LSG will play GT twice.

 

The IPL-2022 auctions conducted in February this year changed the structure of almost every franchise with the retention of players being only about 3-6 for each team and this resulted in the change of captaincy in all the teams except for MI, Delhi Capitals (DC) and Rajasthan Royals (RR). The big news among captaincy changes is Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s surprise move of handing over captaincy to Ravindra Jadeja for CSK. Although this move from the 40-year-old former India skipper MSD had been expected the timing of the same did surprise everyone. Very popular in Chennai as ‘Thala’ (leader), Dhoni has made himself available as a player-cum-mentor for CSK while reiterating that he’d call quits only before his beloved fans in the franchise’s home ground, Chennai.

 

Earlier, the erstwhile India captain, Virat Kohli also quit his captaincy of the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) and the South African Faf du Plessis is the new captain. Former captain of Punjab Kings (PBKS) KL Rahul was bought by the LSG and later appointed captain. India Test opener Mayank Agarwal takes the reins of captaining PBKS. The former captain of Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) Eoin Morgan is nowhere to be seen while the franchise’s earlier captain cum wicketkeeper Dinesh Karthik is bought by the RCB, and so KKR’s new captain is its new and dashing buy Shreyas Iyer. Hardik Pandya leads the new franchise GT. New Zealand skipper Kane Williamson is to lead the Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) while its earlier stalwart-opener David Warner is bought away by the DC.  

 

So then, the biggest T20 cricket extravaganza of India starts tomorrow evening at the Wankhede stadium in Mumbai featuring the opening match between the defending champions CSK and the KKR. Starting on Sunday, the 27^th of March, the IPL-2022 double-headers will be underway which will be a feature of every weekend during the over two-month long tournament. Regular greats of the IPL like Suresh Raina, Steven Smith and many others will be missed as they remained unsold after the auction.  

 

The IPL-2022 Group Matches Schedule:

IPL-2021: The Last Of The MSD?

The MSD of Indian and world cricket has been a phenomenon in terms of aggression yet simple approach, skillful captaincy in all three formats of the game, unorthodox right-hand batsman with raw yet powerful hitting, one of the best examples in wicket-keeping in world cricket, one of the fastest runners between the wickets and always smiling and composed in the field. MSD simplified means the one and the only—Mahendra Singh Dhoni. On October 15, 2021 in the IPL-2021 final in Dubai which was MSD’s 300^thmatch Dhoni led his franchise CSK (Chennai Super Kings), since 2008, to its 4^thChampion title defeating KKR (Kolkata Knight Riders) convincingly by 27 runs. The earlier title wins under Dhoni’s captaincy were in 2010, 2011 and 2018.

 

There have been rumors floating around in the UAE (United Arab Emirates) about the 40-year-old star cricketer’s retirement after IPL-2021 which seems realistic now that he has played the 300^thmatch and also winning the title, creating a moment of glory in leaving. However, the unpredictable, as far as retirement is concerned, cricketer has denied all rumors and made it clear that if not as the captain of CSK he’d continue to be available as a player. After the final encounter of the IPL-2021 MS Dhoni also said that with two new teams coming for the auctions for IPL-2022 the best of interests for CSK would naturally be kept in mind and the Indian cricket board BCCI would be the final authority to decide on his position or place in the team. If he retires indeed then we have seen the last of the MSD here in Dubai, and unfortunately we missed seeing him bat as it was not necessary for him and there was also the rare drop of a catch behind by someone who is never known for such lapses. But fortunately, we had again seen him in the role of a ‘finisher’ in the Qualifier-1 where he hit the required 13 runs in the last over to take CSK straight into the Final, defeating DC (Delhi Capitals), the top team in the points table.

 

As for the IPL-2021 Final Dhoni’s CSK almost sealed the encounter when its top four batsmen took the winds out of KKR—the batting explosion led by opener Faf du Plessis with 86 runs off just 59 balls and significant contributions by opener Rituraj Gaikwad, Robin Uthappa and Moeen Ali—posted a mammoth total of 192 runs on the board. KKR, the team that performed brilliantly in the UAE leg of the tournament, basically consists of 5 or 6 contributing players—the two consistent openers of Shubman Gill and Venkatesh Iyer, the three spinners of Narine, Chakravarthy and Shakib (a late addition in the absence of the unpredictable Andre Russel), and pacer Mavi, at times joined by batsman Rana. All others, unfortunately, were more of liabilities than assets including most prominently the KKR captain Eoin Morgan and wicket-keeper Dinesh Karthik—their glaring inability to lead the team when required. In the Final too, despite an opening partnership of 91 runs in good time, the following batsmen failed miserably including Narine on whom the team depends as a batsman too. Also, the point to be mentioned here is that KKR played most of their matches in the relatively sluggish pitches of Sharjah and Abu Dhabi, and won mostly low scoring matches, their trio of spinners and Mavi restricting the oppositions to less than 150 most often. The high-scoring match on an easy pitch the CSK total score was literally beyond KKR standards.

 

Coming back to the MSD phenomenon, we still remember him as the long-haired young boy from a small town Ranch in Bihar, running enthusiastically around the field—hitting the ball very hard, keeping the wickets and even bowling on rare occasions. Mahendra Singh Dhoni was selected for Team India in 2004 for the shorter format (ODI) and made his Test debut the next year. In 2007 he took over captaincy from Rahul Dravid in the ODI format and became the Test captain too in 2008 taking over from Anil Kumble. The disastrous result in the ICC Cricket World Cup-2007 when India was eliminated at the league stage was a huge setback for Dhoni; but in the same year in the inaugural ICC Cricket World Cup T20, named as its captain too, Dhoni led the team to his first ICC World Cup defeating Pakistan in the Final. MSD played 90 Tests amassing nearly 5000 runs with a healthy average of 38, 6 centuries, a double century (the highest of his career at 224) and 33 fifties. In 2013 under his captaincy India became the first team in 40 years to have whitewashed Australia 4-0 in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy played in India. During his tenure India occupied the top spot in the ICC Test rankings for the first time. He brought aggression into the team, paradigm shifting the team’s usual ‘snatching defeat from the jaws of victory’ to ‘snatching victory from the jaws of defeat’.

 

In the ODI format (one-day international) MSD played 350 matches and amassed more than 10000 glorious runs, the fourth Indian to do so, with 10 centuries, 73 half-centuries and an amazing average of 50.53 (his highest and a memorable score of 183 against Sri Lanka in 2005).  He also became the first wicket-keeper in the world to complete the 100^th stumpings. MSD raced to his second ICC World Cup by winning the ICC Cricket World Cup-2011 in India by holding the fort in the Final against Sri Lanka in Mumbai forming a winning partnership with Yuvraj Singh, and the ecstasy that followed that we cannot ever forget. His third ICC World Cup came in 2013 when India won the ICC Champions Trophy -2013 played in England, first started by the ICC as a knockout tournament and called the Mini World Cup, post-2017 it got replaced the T20 World Cup), defeating the hosts in the Final that got reduced to 20 overs each due to rains. So, MSD became the only Indian captain to win all the ICC World Cups, apart from two Asia Cup victories. In the T20I format, Dhoni played 98 matches amassing 1612 runs with a healthy average of 37 and two half-centuries.

 

The MSD phenomenon has been getting tremendous praise both nationally and internationally by famous cricketers. He has earned the title of ‘Captain Cool’ for his simplicity and easy manners on the field, and is also known for his ‘helicopter shot’ signifying his raw hitting power and unorthodox approach to the game. He initially started as a lower order batsman, but was promoted to the top order thanks to his prowess and utility, and then settled more or less as a middle-order batsman. He has been given the honor of figuring in the ICC World Test IX 3 times as captain, a record 8 times in the ICC World ODI IX of which 5 times as captain of the team along with ICC ODI Player of the Year in 2008 and in 2009. In India, the modest boy from Ranchi won Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award in 2007, Indian civil honors Padmashri in 2009 and Padma Bhushan in 2018.

 

The MSD phenomenon has not been without its share of ups and downs, criticisms, controversy and unpredictable behavior. He suddenly laid down his captaincy from the ODI format ahead of a series in 2017 making himself still available as a player. More dramatically, he announced his retirement from Test cricket amidst a Test Series in Australia in 2014-15 leaving it all to Virat Kohli to handle. He retired from all formats of international cricket on 15^th August, 2020, perhaps prompted by his famous run-out against New Zealand in the semi-final of the ICC Cricket World Cup-2019 thus failing to ‘finish’ the match, and the aftermath of his non-selection for the international matches by the BCCI. Dhoni had also been criticized by his moves to oust the stalwarts of Team India one by one bringing in new blood, of course seemingly favoring some players, and of late for his inability to accelerate in batting. In the aftermath of the World Cup-2007 disaster for India Dhoni’s Ranchi residence was vandalized by perhaps disappointed fans. His IPL franchise CSK was involved in a bitter match-fixing controversy that started in 2013 for which the franchise was banned for two years in 2015, and Dhoni was purchased by Pune for one year after that. In 2018 he came back to lead CSK again and won the third Championship title that year.

 

Mahendra Singh Dhoni remains in UAE for the upcoming ICC Cricket World Cup T20-2021 where he will play his role as a ‘mentor’ or ‘mental conditioner’ for Team India. No one could be better positioned for this role. He has been known to be very close to India captain Virat Kohli (who has recently announced his stepping-down as captain from the T20 format after the World Cup), and the latter gained immensely as captain from Dhoni’s guidance on the field as MSD was still playing for the team in the shorter formats. In actuality, nobody would ever tire of watching the MSD phenomenon in some kind of a role, playing on the field or otherwise. Such is this player of cricket who has continuously been showered love and affection throughout India and elsewhere.

Cricket ODI: Kohli-Dhoni Push Gives India 2-1 Lead in Mohali Against New Zealand!

A brilliant century, his 26^th ODI ton, and an unbeaten knock of 154 by Virat Kohli steered Team India to a 7 wicket victory over New Zealand in Mohali on Sunday and a 2-1 lead in the five-match ODI series. As a much-awaited silver lining Captain Cool under pressure, MS Dhoni joined the vice-captain in the chase of 286 runs promoting himself to no.4 position in the batting order and contributing a solid 80  runs consisting of 3 sixes and 6 fours. The duo came together when India were is some spot of trouble losing both the openers at 41/2 in the 9^th over and added 151 runs taking the team score to 192 in 36^th over when Dhoni fell to Henry. Mohali has been a high scoring ground with the chasing team winning in the last three consecutive matches. Dhoni kept on winning the toss in this Series, and here he naturally chose the fielding option once again.

Put into bat the Kiwis started well and were in a position of strength at 153/2 in only the 29^th over looking good for a total of over 300 runs which was really required to create some pressure for the might of India batting. But it was not to be. As is seen regularly in this tour of India, New Zealand again had a middle order collapse losing 6 wickets for just the addition of 46 runs at 199/8 thanks again to some inspired bowling by Amit Mishra and Jaspreet Bumarah. But for some rear-guard action by Neesham and Henry that finally took the score to 285 all out the match would’ve been a rank walkover for India. However, the Kiwis must have been aware of the fact that in the last match they made India cower with a total of only 242 runs.

If at all the visitors enjoyed any hope of creating some pressure it all went up in the air as Taylor dropped a regulation catch offered by Kohli early on when he made just 6 runs. That was unpardonable and the costliest lapse, and from that point onwards Kohli was unstoppable. With a steady Manish Pandey at the end overs, Virat Kohli saw India home in the 49^th over. With two matches coming up—on 26^th and 29^th—the Series is still open. One question that comes to mind is that India perhaps would not be looking for a win riding on a Virat Kohli great knock every time. The other batsmen need to fire, particularly Rohit Sharma. The Indian bowlers have been doing a good job so far, but they too should learn to apply pressure when odds are hugely in their favour. 

Cricket: Bangladesh Thrash India, Captain 'Cool' Loses It!

Bangladesh proved it precisely and clinically--that their cricketers are a spirited and hugely improved lot, that they beating Pakistan squarely was not a fluke, that they running India close to elimination from the World Cup-2015 was not an aberration, and that they have now avenged their exit from the World Cup effectively, so-called it might be though. They had excelled in every department of the game in the first One Day International match against India in Dhaka last evening thrashing and humiliating India by 79 runs. Winning the toss and electing to bat first they raced to a big score right away, despite being put into a tight corner at least twice by India. The Indian pacers were made fun of and only some spinning ability prevented them from reaching even 400. There were no big individual scores, it being a total and spirited team effort. 

It seemed the Indian cricket superstars did not take them seriously enough. Even after conceding 307 runs Indian batsmen had a rather casual approach while chasing. A tight and beautiful pace bowling by the Bangladesh pacers beat both openers again and again, just missing the outside edge. Within first four overs both the openers could have been out. However, India did manage to have sound opening stand of 95 for no loss. Just then, Shikhar Dhawan had a lazy heave getting out caught behind. That started the slide of 'star' batsmen falling to casual shots. This is not to say that Bangladesh bowlers namely Taskin or Mustafizur were bowling loose. This is to say that the so-called quality batting of India had the potential to face up to it effectively. For once the Indian Cricket Board (BCCI) made a correct decision sending a full-strength Indian squad, but the players could not muster the humility to treat them as at least equals. Mustafizur Rahman, making his ODI debut, had a brilliant haul of five wickets while keeper Mushfiqur Rahim held five great catches behind. At times Bangladesh tried a little too hard and was momentarily allowing the game to go the Indian way. 

When you make unnecessary mistakes you rue it very badly later, and get angry too. That was what probably happened to captain 'Cool' MS Dhoni. Seeing the match going away supposedly to a 'minnow' and that too due to his team's complacency he lost his cool and deliberately shoved Mustafizur on the way to a run. No doubt, Mustafizur cultivated a habit of standing on the batsman's way quite a few times in the match. But that did not permit the Indian captain to behave the way he did. This thrashing should act as an experience and also a warning for Team India in the following matches against Bangladesh, and perhaps in all their encounters against supposedly weaker sides. 

The Scorecard: 

Indian Cricket: A Tale Of The Tails That Nails MS Dhoni!

When Team India loses half of its batsmen in a particular test match it is always all over. The Indian tail never manages to wag—meaning the tail-enders invariably fail to take the score on leading to a batting collapse and more often than not surrendering the match from a possible winning position. And when Team India manages to grab half of the opposition batsmen in a particular test match it only gives the charge back to the opposition thus more often than not surrendering the match. When these two lethal syndromes combine there is always a largely one-sided verdict against India. These ‘tail’-oriented maladies are responsible for most of the away defeats and six consecutive Test Series losses abroad suffered by India since 2011 including two white washes at the hands of England and Australia. This is responsible for the most successful ever Indian cricket captain to finally step down from Test cricket. A captain who gave India No.1 position in ICC’s Test rankings in 2009 for the first time ever and India continued there for 18 months.

Mahendra Singh Dhoni announced his retirement from Test cricket in Melbourne on 30^th December, 2014 after saving the third Test against Australia and conceding the Series—a decision that was expected for a long while, but not at all expected the way it had happened. Most of the away defeats under Dhoni’s leadership had the ‘could have been Indian wins or draws’ written all over and that was why his Test captaincy was questioned again and again. His apparently defensive fielding tactics, perplexing bowling changes and inability to go for the kill blemished his Test career. He had created two contrasting records—crafted 27 wins in 60 Tests making him the most winning Indian captain and at the same time won just 6 of the 30 away Tests making him the most losing abroad Indian captain ever.

Last time Team India went to England (2014) they first created history at Lords and then just surrendered the Series 1-3 thanks to the ‘tail’ and other vulnerable factors. Earlier, the South Africa tour was also no better with possible winning chances neutralized. From that time onwards the question of Dhoni continuing as Test captain raged. But then, there were other factors, because MS Dhoni had excellent records in the other formats of the game. He brought two World Cup titles—one in the one-day format after 28 years in 2011 and the other in T20 format in 2007—for the country and maintained his absolute stranglehold in the shorter formats as the captain.

However, thanks to the celebrated cricket clout of N Srinivasan-BCCI-Dhoni-IPL-CSK fame nobody could have dethroned him even from Test captaincy and therefore there was more of arrogance rather than pragmatism or acceptance in his decision to retire suddenly. We talked about traces of arrogance in Dhoni as far back as 2009 and those traces grew into full fledged arrogance over the years. Notwithstanding the tough proceedings of the Supreme Court’s into the ‘conflict of interest’ of the IPL the clout still remains in the shorter formats and Dhoni would continue to captain India there. Having said that arguments offered by some that Dhoni should be sacked by the BCCI from captaincy in all formats due to the arrogance and high-handedness of his decision to retire are not justified. The greatest captain of Indian cricket team still has a lot in him to deliver for India.

Indian cricket is just like that. Now the next focus is on the World Cup-2015 and happenings in the Indian dressing room would decide how successfully Mahendra Singh Dhoni leads India from here on. Team India manager Ravi Shastri said after the historic Melbourne Test that in about a few months the young and aggressive Indian cricket team would start delivering in all formats of the game. He clearly indicated his confidence in Virat Kohli as the next captain. At the moment, being positive and pragmatic about the this great game of cricket would augur well for the Indian cricket team.