India began their 2017 Champions Trophy campaign on Sunday with a win over New Zealand in a warm-up fixture.
Virat Kohli’s side bundled the Kiwis out for 189 and were then sitting pretty at 129/2 before rain forced the match to be decided via the D/L Method. India were found to be 45 runs ahead of the par score and were therefore declared winners.
During the course of the match, Sanjay Manjrekar made an interesting observation on Twitter.
Sanjay was possibly influenced by how the batsmen in the Indian squad fared in the recently concluded Indian Premier League. Barring Shikhar Dhawan, no one featured in the top twelve run-getters of IPL 2017. However, one should be aware that the two other batsmen who bat in the top three – Rohit Sharma (3 half-centuries) and Virat Kohli (4 half-centuries) – did make useful scores at some point in time during the IPL, and hence the situation isn’t really too bad.
Apart from Sanjay, several other individuals have in the last few days pointed fingers towards the lack of form of MS Dhoni and Yuvraj Singh, and how that could hurt India in the coming days. True, both Dhoni and Yuvraj Singh didn’t light up the IPL. Fact was they were far from convincing; one can possibly recall two good knocks each from both batsmen in the entire IPL 2017.
Not mincing words here, but in the context of IPL 2017, Dhoni struggled at the crease; particularly early on he struggled to get the spinners away and ate up plenty of dot balls.
However, once he had his eye in, and reached the death overs and had the opportunity to face the quicks, Dhoni more than made up for his slow pace of scoring. His scoring rate in the last three overs of the innings was an incredible 198.21!
Dhoni in IPL vs India Jersey
Dhoni’s performance in the IPL2017 was as if he was suffocated in the mind; he was restricted by the diminished ability to impose urgency early on, couldn’t begin an innings on the fourth or fifth gear, and couldn’t express himself the way he has done in the past.
But, 50-over contests are a different cup of tea altogether; the composition of the team is different, the dynamics of the game are different and there is just too much time available for a batsman to build an innings.
One should take a close look at MS Dhoni’s performance in the two formats – 50-overs & T20s – in the last twelve months; these numbers are a mix of performances in domestic and international cricket, and they will give you an idea of how fluent – or otherwise – Dhoni has been in the two formats.
While Dhoni’s average and strike-rate in 20-over contests have dipped (in comparison to his numbers earlier), there has been a rise in the same set of parameters in 50-over contests in the last year.
The 50-over format allows Dhoni to build an innings – be it while batting first, or in run-chases; the format allows him to play out a few dot balls to get his eye in, the field restrictions allow him to find gaps and take singles now and then, and come the end overs he still has the ability to find the boundary at will. Also, batting at number four or five means he isn’t the team’s only finisher anymore and that comes with a certain freedom; there are lads batting lower than him who will be expected to give the impetus at the end.
So, to Sanjay, and to the rest of the Twitterverse, I’d say, ‘Trust in Dhoni’. His IPL form is not a cause for alarm.
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