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Dhoni as the next ‘Tendulkar’??

I would like to clear-up before anyone reading this heading gets the wrong idea. I am not trying to suggest that in terms of batting greatness and his overall genius, Dhoni can takeover Tendulkar. I am simply suggesting that the time is near when Tendulkar’s presence as a part of the regular Indian team is bound to decline considerably, i.e. in the very near future. In this perspective, being perhaps the most consistent batsman in the team after
 Tendulkar and showing ample resolution to take upon the challenge in a crisis, shouldn’t Dhoni be prepared in the role of a batter-cum-captain, by freeing him from his wicket-keeping responsibilities? The reason why I say that is that no matter what experts say about cricketers doing double-edged roles today, wicket-keeping along with captaining the side and being a major wheel for the team’s middle-order performance is bound to take a toll on Dhoni at some point. Should the selectors take stock of how they plan to ensure that Tendulkar’s eventual absence in the team is compensated to some extent by having someone as reliable as Dhoni, up the order, as a specialist bastman? The point is that even if Dhoni is freed from his wicket-keeping responsibilities, the team’s balance wouldn’t suffer to a damaging effect. For starters, having Dhoni at number three would mean that more stability and tenacity would be maintained at the top. Further, some folks might recall that even as an occasional, part-time bowler Dhoni has bowled a few overs in the domestic circuit and in some test matches against Pakistan with his average speed around the 130 km/hr mark. Considering that most mainstream bowlers in the Indian squad bowl not more than 135 km/hr, this talent of Dhoni could be worked upon, essentially as a part-time contributor. With Dhoni and Yuvraj at number three and four in the batting order and their ability to share a bare minimum of eight overs among themselves, the inclusion of a specialist keeper like Dinesh Karthick would ensure that the team doesn’t lose out on either batting or bowling resources… though that is even hard to contemplate when a certain phenomenon called Sachin Tendulkar is missing from the equation.

1 comment:

  1. I agree there are no comparisons in terms of batting genius of Tendulkar with the more limited abilities of Dhoni but in terms of consistency and playing for the team's cause, Dhoni is right up there with the Champion. Just consider this> Dhoni is averaging more than 50 runs per ODI innings, even after having scored 5000+ odi runs, that cannot be taken for granted and that too when u consider that often he is the one who bails out the team.

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