We saw him stand in as skipper for Anil Kumble and lead the team to a Test victory against South Africa on a wicked turner in Kanpur earlier this year. But the PCA Stadium in Mohali offered him the chance to acquaint himself with the task of leadership on a flat track. And, over the last three days, the adventurous Mahendra Singh Dhoni has not missed a trick.
The focus on each of the three days of the second Test against Australia has been more on his team-mates – Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly and debutant leg-spinner Amit Mishra but Dhoni has done enough and more to reveal why coach Gary Kirsten – among others – believes that he is ready to assume captaincy in all forms of the game.
He did not have much to do on the opening day besides spin the coin until late in the evening when he decided to send in Ishant Sharma to face the second new ball at the fall of Sachin Tendulkar’s wicket. It was a decision that nearly mocked at Australia and paid dividends on the second day when Dhoni made a sparkling 92 to drive his team to a handsome total.
He capped a good day’s work by getting Mishra to bowl round the wicket to Michael Clarke and was delighted when the leg-spinner earned a leg before wicket verdict and ended a partnership featuring Michael Hussey. Even then, Dhoni would have known that there was much hard – and creative – work ahead of his bowlers on Sunday.
He communicated constantly with his bowlers, even as he let them have their space. He comes across as a hands-on captain, not allowing the situation to drift. Not even when a partnership was assuming significant proportions. The lack of emotion on his visage made it appear like he was playing a game of chess with the opposition.
He encouraged the gangling paceman Ishant Sharma to go full tilt and picked up the dangeros Hussey’s wicket. He roped in Harbahajan Singh to fox Brad Haddin with a well-flighted off-break that bent the off-stump back and recalled Mishra to the attack to see Cameron White’s back with a googly that turned just enough to find the gap.
For all that, the counter-attacking partnership that Shane Watson and Brett Lee strung together from 167 for seven was a testing time for the captain. And despite an underlying eagerness to complete the task, Dhoni stayed patient with his bowlers – rotating them only when he believed they had bowled long enough and the batsmen had to be challenged with some variety.
He claimed the new ball almost as soon as it became due but when neither Zaheer Khan nor Ishant Sharma made a telling impact on the eighth-wicket pair, Dhoni did not hesitate to give his
spinners the chance to bowl with the hard cricket ball. And he got rewarded when Harbahajan Singh lured Lee forward in defence and found the edge to slip.
Above all, Dhoni can take credit for the fact that he did not let his fielders slacken and kept the pressure on Australia. Come to think of it, even in the Bangalore Test, the energy level that the team showed on the field when he was in charge early in Australia’s second innings was palpably high.
Indeed, it may not be long before the selectors – even the new lot – are convinced that Dhoni can be handed over the reins of the Test team. However, that can wait. For, Dhoni’s immediate test will be to motivate the batting order to fire quickly enough to be able to put Australia under pressure in the fourth innings.
Of course, with the track slowing down and remaining flat, he will need to ensure that his bowlers have the time to tie the visiting team down in knots and perhaps clinch a victory that seemed remote when India slipped to 163 for four on the opening day and another middle-order collapse loomed over the team.
The focus on each of the three days of the second Test against Australia has been more on his team-mates – Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly and debutant leg-spinner Amit Mishra but Dhoni has done enough and more to reveal why coach Gary Kirsten – among others – believes that he is ready to assume captaincy in all forms of the game.
He did not have much to do on the opening day besides spin the coin until late in the evening when he decided to send in Ishant Sharma to face the second new ball at the fall of Sachin Tendulkar’s wicket. It was a decision that nearly mocked at Australia and paid dividends on the second day when Dhoni made a sparkling 92 to drive his team to a handsome total.
He capped a good day’s work by getting Mishra to bowl round the wicket to Michael Clarke and was delighted when the leg-spinner earned a leg before wicket verdict and ended a partnership featuring Michael Hussey. Even then, Dhoni would have known that there was much hard – and creative – work ahead of his bowlers on Sunday.
He communicated constantly with his bowlers, even as he let them have their space. He comes across as a hands-on captain, not allowing the situation to drift. Not even when a partnership was assuming significant proportions. The lack of emotion on his visage made it appear like he was playing a game of chess with the opposition.
He encouraged the gangling paceman Ishant Sharma to go full tilt and picked up the dangeros Hussey’s wicket. He roped in Harbahajan Singh to fox Brad Haddin with a well-flighted off-break that bent the off-stump back and recalled Mishra to the attack to see Cameron White’s back with a googly that turned just enough to find the gap.
For all that, the counter-attacking partnership that Shane Watson and Brett Lee strung together from 167 for seven was a testing time for the captain. And despite an underlying eagerness to complete the task, Dhoni stayed patient with his bowlers – rotating them only when he believed they had bowled long enough and the batsmen had to be challenged with some variety.
He claimed the new ball almost as soon as it became due but when neither Zaheer Khan nor Ishant Sharma made a telling impact on the eighth-wicket pair, Dhoni did not hesitate to give his
spinners the chance to bowl with the hard cricket ball. And he got rewarded when Harbahajan Singh lured Lee forward in defence and found the edge to slip.
Above all, Dhoni can take credit for the fact that he did not let his fielders slacken and kept the pressure on Australia. Come to think of it, even in the Bangalore Test, the energy level that the team showed on the field when he was in charge early in Australia’s second innings was palpably high.
Indeed, it may not be long before the selectors – even the new lot – are convinced that Dhoni can be handed over the reins of the Test team. However, that can wait. For, Dhoni’s immediate test will be to motivate the batting order to fire quickly enough to be able to put Australia under pressure in the fourth innings.
Of course, with the track slowing down and remaining flat, he will need to ensure that his bowlers have the time to tie the visiting team down in knots and perhaps clinch a victory that seemed remote when India slipped to 163 for four on the opening day and another middle-order collapse loomed over the team.
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