M S Dhoni and the World Cup T20 Fiasco: Who Is To Blame
We have been kicked out in style from the T20 tournament and now the blame game begins. Legends such as Kapil Dev, Mohd Azharuddin, Bishen Singh Bedi appear on National TV and add their 2 cents (literally, that’s what it is worth).
For his part, Dhoni mentioned that the IPL late night parties took a toll on the players. This is quite contradictory to what he said when they just landed. He has said the players are fresh and fine! But in any case, I think the team was totally and horribly wrong. What was Yuvraj doing in the team? He should have continued partying – I am sure there are parties all night each day even after the IPL. Maybe he wanted a sponsor! And what was Harbhajan Singh doing also – 5 matches ZERO wickets! You are not just supposed to bowl tight – but get wickets Mr. Singh. This off spinner has got so many chances with the India team – I am amazed how he still manages to be there. I do not think, with his kind of exposure you should expect anything less than match winning performances at least once in 5 – 10 matches. But he is nowhere close. I wonder how he manages to stay under the radar of the already skewed-minded selectors.
What has Yusuf Pathan done after his whirlwind 100 against Mumbai in the IPL? He must have played at least 10-12 matches after that. Whats his contribution? In the next 10 he will again score some 70-80 runs and cement his place for the next 20-30 matches.
We must overhaul the system – instead of going by 1-2 brilliant performance that guarantee a place in the team for the next few seasons, there must be a 5 match window – and keep a minimum average performance that the players must beat – to keep their place in the team. Example: You must have an average of 30 runs (in T20) in the last 5 matches to be selected for the next match. A similar metric should be given to bowlers. All this may seem too “ideal” and “theoretical” but my suggestion is to move more towards “most recent performances” to decide on who gets on to the field. A 5 match window also is a reasonable number of opportunities for any player to prove that he commands a place in the team.
Well I hope some common sense prevails – and people who are responsible for this insanely popular game in the 2 largest country in the world will make the right moves soon!
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